1Let me sing for my dear friend a song about his vineyard. My dear friend had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2He dug it up, removed the stones, planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in the middle of it, and also dug out a winepress. He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only sour, wild grapes.
3“Now, people of Jerusalem and Judah, please decide between me and my vineyard.”
4“What more could I have done for my vineyard that I didn’t do? So why, when I expected good grapes, did it produce only sour, wild grapes?”
5“Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its protective hedge, and it will be eaten. I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
6I will turn it into a wasteland. It won’t be pruned or hoed, but instead, thorns and thistles will grow there. I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.”
7Because the vineyard of Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, is the nation of Israel, and the men of Judah are his favorite plants. He expected justice, but instead, he saw oppression; he looked for righteousness, but instead, he heard cries of distress.
8How terrible it will be for those who keep adding house to house and field to field, until there is no room left and you are the only ones living in the land!
9In my hearing, Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, says: “Surely many houses will be empty, even great and beautiful ones, left without anyone living in them.
10For a ten-acre vineyard will produce only about six gallons of wine, and about six bushels of seed will produce only about half a bushel of grain.”
11How terrible it will be for those who get up early in the morning to drink strong alcoholic drinks, and stay up late into the night until they are inflamed with wine!
12They have harps, lyres, tambourines, and flutes, along with wine, at their feasts; but they don’t pay attention to what Yahweh has done, nor do they consider the work of his hands.
13Therefore, my people will be taken captive because they don’t have knowledge. Their respected leaders are starving, and their large crowds are parched with thirst.
14So the grave has expanded its appetite and opened its mouth endlessly. Into it will descend their honor, their crowds, their splendor, and everyone who celebrates among them.
15So people will be brought low, humanity will be humbled, and the proud will be brought down.
16But Yahweh of Armies will be honored through justice, and God, the Holy One, will show his holiness through righteousness.
17Then lambs will graze as if in their own pasture, and strangers will eat among the ruins left by the rich.
18How terrible it will be for those who are drawn to sin as if by a rope, and to wickedness as if by a cart rope.
19They say, "Let him hurry up and finish his work so we can see it. Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come soon so we can understand it!"
20How terrible it will be for those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who make bitter sweet and sweet bitter!
21How terrible it will be for those who think they are wise and believe they are intelligent!
22How terrible it will be for those who are champions at drinking wine and experts at mixing strong drinks!
23They take bribes to declare the guilty innocent, but deny justice to the innocent.
24Therefore, just as fire consumes stubble and dry grass burns up in flames, so their roots will rot, and their blossoms will turn to dust. This is because they have rejected the law of Yahweh of Armies and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25Therefore, Yahweh's anger burns against his people. He has raised his hand against them and struck them. The mountains shake, and their dead bodies lie like trash in the streets. Despite all this, his anger has not gone away, and his hand is still raised to strike.
26He will raise a signal for nations far away and whistle for them from the ends of the earth. Look, they will come quickly and swiftly.
27None of them will be tired or stumble. None will doze off or sleep. Their belts will not come loose, nor will their sandal straps break.
28Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are ready. Their horses' hooves are like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.
29Their roar is like a lioness. They roar like young lions. Indeed, they will roar, grab their prey, and carry it away, and no one will be able to rescue it.
30On that day, they will roar against them like the roaring of the sea. If one looks at the land, there will be only darkness and distress. The light will be darkened by its clouds.