Read the Bible

Parable of the Vineyard

¹ Let me sing now for my beloved
A song of my beloved about His vineyard.
My beloved had a ^(C1)vineyard on ^(F1)a fertile hill.

² He dug it all around, cleared it of stones,
And planted it with ^(F1)the ^(C1)choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it,
And also carved out a ^(F2)wine vat in it;
Then He ^(C2)expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only ^(F3)worthless ones.

³ "And now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
^(C1)Judge between Me and My vineyard.

⁴ "^(C1)What more was there to do for My vineyard ^(F1)that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce ^(F2)worthless ones?

⁵ "So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will ^(C1)remove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will ^(C2)break down its wall and it will become ^(C3)trampled ground.

⁶ "I will ^(C1)lay it waste;
It will not be pruned nor hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also command the clouds not to ^(C2)rain on it."

⁷ For the ^(C1)vineyard of the LORD of armies is the house of Israel,
And the people of Judah are His delightful plant.
So He waited for justice, but behold, there was ^(C2)bloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

Woes for the Wicked

⁸ Woe to those who ^(C1)attach house to house and join field to field,
Until there is no more room,
And you alone are a landowner in the midst of the land!

⁹ In my ears the LORD of armies has sworn, "^(C1)Many houses shall certainly become ^(C2)desolate,
Even great and fine ones, without occupants.

¹⁰ "For ^(C1)ten acres of vineyard will yield only one ^(F1)bath of wine,
And a ^(F2)(C2)homer of seed will yield only an ^(F3)ephah of grain."

¹¹ Woe to those who rise early in the morning so that they may pursue ^(C1)intoxicating drink,
Who stay up late in the evening so that wine may inflame them!

¹² Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and ^(C1)harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine;
But they ^(C2)do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD,
Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

¹³ Therefore My people go into exile for their ^(C1)lack of knowledge;
And their ^(F1)(C2)nobles are famished,
And their multitude is parched with thirst.

¹⁴ Therefore ^(C1)Sheol has enlarged its ^(F1)throat and opened its mouth beyond measure;
And ^(F2)Jerusalem's splendor, her multitude, her noise of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it.

¹⁵ So the common people will be humbled and the person of importance brought low,
^(C1)The eyes of the haughty also will be brought low.

¹⁶ But the ^(C1)LORD of armies will be ^(C2)exalted in judgment,
And the holy God will show Himself ^(C3)holy in righteousness.

^17 (C1)Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture,
And strangers will eat in the ruins of the ^(F1)wealthy.

¹⁸ Woe to those who drag ^(C1)wrongdoing with the cords of ^(F1)deceit,
And sin as if with cart ropes;

^19 (C1)Who say, "Let Him hurry, let Him do His work quickly, so that we may see it;
And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach
And come to pass, so that we may know it!"

²⁰ Woe to those who ^(C1)call evil good, and good evil;
Who ^(F1)(C2)substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who ^(F1)substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

²¹ Woe to those who are ^(C1)wise in their own eyes
And ^(F1)clever in their own sight!

^22 (C1)Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine,
And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink,

^23 (C1)Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe,
And ^(C2)take away the ^(F1)rights of the ones who are in the right!

²⁴ Therefore, ^(C1)as a tongue of fire consumes stubble,
And dry grass collapses in the flame,
So their ^(C2)root will become ^(C3)like rot, and their blossom ^(F1)blow away like dust;
For they have ^(C4)rejected the Law of the LORD of armies,
And discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵ For this reason the ^(C1)anger of the LORD has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them.
And the ^(C2)mountains quaked, and their ^(C3)corpses ^(F1)lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
^(C4)Despite all this, His anger ^(F2)is not spent,
But His ^(C5)hand is still stretched out.

²⁶ He will also lift up a ^(C1)flag to the distant ^(F1)nation,
And ^(C2)whistle for it ^(C3)from the ends of the earth;
And behold, it will ^(C4)come with speed swiftly.

^27 (C1)No one in it is tired or stumbles,
No one slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the ^(C2)undergarment at his waist loosened,
Nor his sandal strap broken.

^28 (F1)(C1)Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent;
The hoofs of its horses ^(F2)seem like flint, and its chariot ^(C2)wheels like a storm wind.

²⁹ Its ^(C1)roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;
It growls as it ^(C2)seizes the prey
And carries it off with ^(C3)no one to save it.

³⁰ And it will ^(C1)roar against it on that day like the roaring of the sea.
If one ^(C2)looks across to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress;
Even the light is darkened by its clouds.