A Song About the Lord's Vineyard
51Let me sing for my loved one a song about my loved one's vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile ridge.[] 2He dug it up[] and gathered the stones out of it. He planted it with the best vines.
He built a tower in the middle of it.
He also cut a winepress into it.
He expected it to produce clusters of sweet grapes,
but it produced only sour grapes.
3“So now, you residents of Jerusalem and you men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4What more could have been done for my vineyard
that I have not already done for it?
When I expected it to produce clusters of sweet grapes,
why did it produce sour grapes?
5Now, let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will take away its hedge, and it will become a pasture.
I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled down.
6I will make it a wasteland.
It will not be pruned or hoed.
So briers and thorns will shoot up.
I will also command the clouds not to pour rain on it.”
7Yes, the vineyard of the Lord of Armies is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah are the planting that was pleasing to him.
He expected justice, but instead there was oppression.
He expected righteousness, but there was an outcry.
Woe to the Wicked
8Woe to you[] who join house to house, who connect field to field, until there is no room left,
except room for you alone to live in the middle of the land!
9The Lord of Armies announces this in my hearing:
I swear that many houses will be deserted.
Even the large and beautiful houses will be unoccupied.
10Then ten acres[] of vineyard will yield only six gallons[] of wine, and six bushels[] of seed will yield less than a bushel[] of grain. 11Woe to those who rise up early in the morning to chase after beer,[] who stay up late into the night until wine inflames them.
12Harp, lyre, drum, flute, and wine are at their drinking parties,
but they have no regard for the work of the Lord,
nor have they paid attention to what his hands are doing.
13This is why my people go into captivity—lack of knowledge.
Their dignitaries starve to death,
and the whole crowd is parched with thirst.
14That is why the grave has increased its appetite,
and its mouth is wide open.
Their[] splendor and their noisy crowds, their loud revelry, and their celebration will go down into the grave.
15So mankind is humbled,
man is brought low,
and the eyes of the arrogant are brought low,
16but the Lord of Armies is exalted by justice,
and God, the Holy One, reveals his holiness by righteousness.
17Then lambs will graze there as their pasture,
and aliens will eat among the ruins of the rich.[] 18Woe to those who drag their guilt behind them with cords of lies
and their wickedness with cart ropes.
19They say, “Let him hurry, let him speed up his work,
so that we may see it,
and let the plan of the Holy One of Israel draw near.
Let it come, so that we may know it!”
20Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil,
who substitute darkness for light, and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight!
22Woe to those who are champions at drinking wine
and heroes at mixing drinks,
23who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
but deny justice for the innocent!
24Therefore, as the flames of a fire devour stubble,
and as dry grass sinks down into the flames,
in the same way their roots will rot,
and their blossoms will dry up like dust,
because they have rejected the law[] of the Lord of Armies, and they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25Therefore, the Lord'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 will lie like garbage in the middle of the streets.
In spite of all this, his anger is not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.
