^{1 Ref} Let me make a song about my loved one, a song of love for his vine-garden. My loved one had a vine-garden on a fertile hill:

^{2 Ref} And after working the earth of it with a spade, he took away its stones, and put in it a very special vine; and he put up a watchtower in the middle of it, hollowing out in the rock a place for the grape-crushing; and he was hoping that it would give the best grapes, but it gave common grapes.

^{3 Ref} And now, you people of Jerusalem and you men of Judah, be the judges between me and my vine-garden.

^{4 Ref} Is there anything which might have been done for my vine-garden which I have not done? why then, when I was hoping for the best grapes did it give me common grapes?

^{5 Ref} And now, this is what I will do to my vine-garden: I will take away the circle of thorns round it, and it will be burned up; its wall will be broken down and the beasts of the field will go through it;

^{6 Ref} And I will make it waste; its branches will not be touched with the knife, or the earth worked with the spade; but blackberries and thorns will come up in it: and I will give orders to the clouds not to send rain on it.

^{7 Ref} For the vine-garden of the Lord of armies is the people of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of his delight: and he was looking for upright judging, and there was blood; for righteousness, and there was a cry for help.

^{8 Ref} Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land!

^{9 Ref} The Lord of armies has said to me secretly, Truly, numbers of great and fair houses will be waste, with no one living in them.

^{10 Ref} For ten fields of vines will only give one measure of wine, and a great amount of seed will only give a small measure of grain.

^{11 Ref} Cursed are those who get up early in the morning to give themselves up to strong drink; who keep on drinking far into the night till they are heated with wine!

^{12 Ref} And corded instruments and wind-instruments and wine are in their feasts: but they give no thought to the work of the Lord, and they are not interested in what his hands are doing.

^{13 Ref} For this cause my people are taken away as prisoners into strange countries for need of knowledge: and their rulers are wasted for need of food, and their loud-voiced feasters are dry for need of water.

^{14 Ref} For this cause the underworld has made wide its throat, opening its mouth without limit: and her glory, and the noise of her masses, and her loud-voiced feasters, will go down into it.

^{15 Ref} And the poor man's head is bent, and the great man goes down on his face, and the eyes of pride are put to shame:

^{16 Ref} But the Lord of armies is lifted up as judge, and the Holy God is seen to be holy in righteousness.

^{17 Ref} Then the lambs will get food as in their grass-lands, and the fat cattle will be feasting in the waste places.

^{18 Ref} Cursed are those who make use of ox-cords for pulling the evil thing, and the bands of a young ox for their sin!

^{19 Ref} Who say, Let him do his work quickly, let him make it sudden, so that we may see it: let the design of the Holy One of Israel come near, so that it may be clear to us.

^{20 Ref} Cursed are those who give the name of good to evil, and of evil to what is good: who make light dark, and dark light: who make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter!

^{21 Ref} Cursed are those who seem wise to themselves, and who take pride in their knowledge!

^{22 Ref} Cursed are those who are strong to take wine, and great in making mixed drinks!

^{23 Ref} Who for a reward give support to the cause of the sinner, and who take away the righteousness of the upright from him.

^{24 Ref} For this cause, as the waste of the grain is burned up by tongues of fire, and as the dry grass goes down before the flame, so their root will be like the dry stems of grain, and their flower will go up in dust: because they have gone against the law of the Lord of armies, and have given no honour to the word of the Holy One of Israel.

^{25 Ref} For this reason the wrath of the Lord has been burning against his people, and his hand has been stretched out against them in punishment, and the hills were shaking, and their dead bodies were like waste in the open places of the town.

^{26 Ref} And he will let a flag be lifted up as a sign to a far-off nation, whistling to them from the ends of the earth: and they will come quickly and suddenly.

^{27 Ref} There is no weariness among them, and no man is feeble-footed: they come without resting or sleeping, and the cord of their shoes is not broken.

^{28 Ref} Their arrows are sharp, and every bow is bent: the feet of their horses are like rock, and their wheels are like a rushing storm.

^{29 Ref} The sound of their armies will be like the voice of a lion, and their war-cry like the noise of young lions: with loud cries they will come down on their food and will take it away safely, and there will be no one to take it out of their hands.

^{30 Ref} And his voice will be loud over him in that day like the sounding of the sea: and if a man's eyes are turned to the earth, it is all dark and full of trouble; and the light is made dark by thick clouds.

^{1 Ref} Let me sing, I pray you, for my beloved, A song of my beloved as to his vineyard: My beloved hath a vineyard in a fruitful hill,

^{2 Ref} And he fenceth it, and casteth out its stones, And planteth it `with' a choice vine, And buildeth a tower in its midst, And also a wine press hath hewn out in it, And he waiteth for the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones!

^{3 Ref} And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.

^{4 Ref} What -- to do still to my vineyard, That I have not done in it! Wherefore, I waited to the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones!

^{5 Ref} And now, pray, let me cause you to know, That which I am doing to my vineyard, To turn aside its hedge, And it hath been for consumption, To break down its wall, And it hath been for a treading-place.

^{6 Ref} And I make it a waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And gone up have brier and thorn, And on the thick clouds I lay a charge, From raining upon it rain.

^{7 Ref} Because the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts `Is' the house of Israel, And the man of Judah His pleasant plant, And He waiteth for judgment, and lo, oppression, For righteousness, and lo, a cry.

^{8 Ref} Wo `to' those joining house to house, Field to field they bring near, till there is no place, And ye have been settled by yourselves In the midst of the land!

^{9 Ref} By the weapons of Jehovah of Hosts Do not many houses a desolation become? Great and good without inhabitant!

^{10 Ref} For ten acres of vineyard do yield one bath, And an homer of seed yieldeth an ephah.

^{11 Ref} Wo `to' those rising early in the morning, Strong drink they pursue! Tarrying in twilight, wine inflameth them!

^{12 Ref} And harp, and psaltery, tabret, and pipe, And wine, have been their banquets, And the work of Jehovah they behold not, Yea, the work of His hands they have not seen.

^{13 Ref} Therefore my people removed without knowledge, And its honourable ones are famished, And its multitude dried up of thirst.

^{14 Ref} Therefore hath Sheol enlarged herself, And hath opened her mouth without limit. And gone down hath its honour, and its multitude, And its noise, and its exulting one -- into her.

^{15 Ref} And bowed down is the low, and humbled the high, And the eyes of the haughty become low,

^{16 Ref} And Jehovah of Hosts is high in judgment, And the Holy God sanctified in righteousness,

^{17 Ref} And fed have lambs according to their leading, And waste places of the fat ones Do sojourners consume.

^{18 Ref} Wo `to' those drawing out iniquity with cords of vanity, And as `with' thick ropes of the cart -- sin.

^{19 Ref} Who are saying, `Let Him hurry, Let Him hasten His work, that we may see, And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel Draw near and come, and we know.'

^{20 Ref} Wo `to' those saying to evil `good,' And to good `evil,' Putting darkness for light, and light for darkness, Putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.

^{21 Ref} Wo `to' the wise in their own eyes, And -- before their own faces -- intelligent!

^{22 Ref} Wo `to' the mighty to drink wine, And men of strength to mingle strong drink.

^{23 Ref} Declaring righteous the wicked for a bribe, And the righteousness of the righteous They turn aside from him.

^{24 Ref} Therefore, as a tongue of fire devoureth stubble, And flaming hay falleth, Their root is as muck, And their flower as dust goeth up. Because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of Hosts, And the saying of the Holy One of Israel despised.

^{25 Ref} Therefore hath the anger of Jehovah burned among His people, And He stretcheth out His hand against it, And smiteth it, and the mountains tremble, And their carcase is as filth in the midst of the out-places. With all this His anger did not turn back, And still His hand is stretched out!

^{26 Ref} And He lifted up an ensign to nations afar off, And hissed to it from the end of the earth, And lo, with haste, swift it cometh.

^{27 Ref} There is none weary, nor stumbling in it, It doth not slumber, nor sleep, Nor opened hath been the girdle of its loins, Nor drawn away the latchet of its sandals.

^{28 Ref} Whose arrows `are' sharp, and all its bows bent, Hoofs of its horses as flint have been reckoned, And its wheels as a hurricane!

^{29 Ref} Its roaring `is' like a lioness, It roareth like young lions, And it howleth, and seizeth prey, And carrieth away safely, and there is none delivering.

^{30 Ref} And it howleth against it in that day as the howling of a sea, And it hath looked attentively to the land, And lo, darkness -- distress, And light hath been darkened by its abundance!

^{1 Ref} Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.

^{2 Ref} He dug it up, Gathered out its stones, Planted it with the choicest vine, Built a tower in its midst, And also cut out a winepress therein. He looked for it to yield grapes, But it yielded wild grapes.

^{3 Ref} "Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Please judge between me and my vineyard.

^{4 Ref} What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?

^{5 Ref} Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall of it, and it will be trampled down.

^{6 Ref} I will lay it a wasteland. It won't be pruned nor hoed, But it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it."

^{7 Ref} For the vineyard of Yahweh of Hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah his pleasant plant: And he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; For righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.

^{8 Ref} Woe to those who join house to house, Who lay field to field, until there is no room, And you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!

^{9 Ref} In my ears, Yahweh of Hosts says: "Surely many houses will be desolate, Even great and beautiful, unoccupied.

^{10 Ref} For ten acres{Literally, ten yokes, or the amount of land that ten yokes of oxen can plow in one day, which is about 10 acres or 4 hectares.} of vineyard shall yield one bath,{1 bath is about 22 litres, 5.8 U. S. gallons, or 4.8 imperial gallons} And a homer{1 homer is about 220 litres or 6 bushels} of seed shall yield an ephah.{1 ephah is about 22 litres or 0.6 bushels or about 2 pecks)-- only one tenth of what was sown.}"

^{11 Ref} Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; Who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!

^{12 Ref} The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; But they don't regard the work of Yahweh, Neither have they considered the operation of his hands.

^{13 Ref} Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitudes are parched with thirst.

^{14 Ref} Therefore Sheol{Sheol is the place of the dead.} has enlarged its desire, And opened its mouth without measure; And their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it.

^{15 Ref} So man is brought low, Mankind is humbled, And the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled;

^{16 Ref} But Yahweh of Hosts is exalted in justice, And God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.

^{17 Ref} Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.

^{18 Ref} Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, And wickedness as with cart rope;

^{19 Ref} Who say, "Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it!"

^{20 Ref} Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, And light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, And sweet for bitter!

^{21 Ref} Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!

^{22 Ref} Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, And champions at mixing strong drink;

^{23 Ref} Who acquit the guilty for a bribe, But deny justice for the innocent!

^{24 Ref} Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, And as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, So their root shall be as rottenness, And their blossom shall go up as dust; Because they have rejected the law of Yahweh of Hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

^{25 Ref} Therefore Yahweh's anger burns against his people, And he has stretched out his hand against them, and has struck them. The mountains tremble, And their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, But his hand is still stretched out.

^{26 Ref} He will lift up a banner to the nations from far, And he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly.

^{27 Ref} None shall be weary nor stumble among them; None shall slumber nor sleep; Neither shall the belt of their loins be untied, Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

^{28 Ref} Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent. Their horses' hoofs will be like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind.

^{29 Ref} Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, And seize their prey and carry it off, And there will be no one to deliver.

^{30 Ref} They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.