Online Bible

Parable of the Vineyard

Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved LORDA song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people) .My greatly Beloved had a ^avineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan) . Song 6:3; Matt 21:33-402 He dug it all around and cleared away its stones,And planted it with ¹the ^achoicest vine (the people of Judah) .And He built a tower in the center of it;And also hewed out a ²wine vat in it.Then He ^bexpected it to produce the choicest grapes,But it produced only worthless ones.

3 “And now, says the LORD, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,^aJudge between Me and My vineyard (My people) .4 “^aWhat more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done in it?When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield worthless ones?5 “So now let me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:I will ^atake away its thorn-hedge, and it will be burned up;I will ^bbreak down its ¹stone wall and it will be ^ctrampled down by enemies.6 “I will ^aturn it into a wasteland;It will not be pruned or cultivated,But briars and thorns will come up.I will also command the clouds not to ^brain on it.”

7 For the ^avineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house (nation) of IsraelAnd the men of Judah are His delightful planting which He loves.So He looked for justice, but in fact, He saw ^bbloodshed and lawlessness;He looked for righteousness, but in fact, He heard a cry of distress and oppression.

Woes for the Wicked

8 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who ^ajoin house to house and join field to field to increase their holdings by depriving others,Until there is no more room for others,So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!9 In my ears the LORD of hosts said, “Be assured that ^amany houses will become ^bdesolate,Even great and beautiful ones will be unoccupied.10 “For ^aten ¹acres of vineyard will yield only ²one bath of wine,And a ^bhomer (³six bushels) of seed will produce only one ephah of grain.”11 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who rise early in the morning to pursue ^aintoxicating drink,Who stay up late in the night till wine inflames them!12 They have lyre and ^aharp, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts;But they ^bdo not regard nor even pay attention to the deeds of the LORD,Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

13 Therefore My people go into exile because they ^alack knowledge of God;And their ^bhonorable men are famished,And their common people are parched with thirst.14 Therefore ^aSheol (the realm of the dead) has increased its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure;And ¹Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her boisterous uproar and her drunken revelers descend into it.15 So the common man will be bowed down and the man of importance degraded,And ^athe eyes of the proud (arrogant) will be degraded.16 But the ^aLORD of hosts will be ^bexalted in justice,And God, the Holy One, will show Himself ^choly in righteousness through His righteous judgments.17 ^aThen the lambs will graze among the ruins as in their own pasture,And strangers will eat in the desolate places of the exiled wealthy.

18 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who drag along ^awickedness with cords of falsehood,And sin as if with cart ropes towing their own punishment;19 ^aWho say, “Let Him move speedily, let Him expedite His work His promised vengeance, so that we may see it;And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel approachAnd come to pass, so that we may know it!”20 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who ^acall evil good, and good evil;Who ^bsubstitute darkness for light and light for darkness;Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!21 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are ^awise in their own eyesAnd clever and shrewd in their own sight!22 ^aWoe (judgment is coming) to those who are heroes at drinking wineAnd men of strength in mixing intoxicating drinks,23 ^aWho justify the wicked and acquit the guilty for a bribe,And ^btake away the rights of those who are in the right!

24 Therefore, ^aas the tongue of fire consumes the stubble from strawAnd the dry grass collapses into the flame,So their ^broot will become ^clike rot and their blossom blow away like fine dust;Because they have ^drejected the law of the LORD of hostsAnd despised and discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.25 Therefore the ^aanger of the LORD has burned against His people,And He has stretched out His hand against them and has struck them down.And the ^bmountains trembled, and their ^cdead bodies lay like rubbish in the middle of the streets.^dIn spite of all this God’s anger is not turned away,But His ^ehand is still stretched out in judgment.

26 He will lift up a ^aflag to call the distant nations to bring His judgment on Judah,And will ^bwhistle for them ^cfrom the ends of the earth;And indeed, they will ^dcome with great speed swiftly.27 ^aNo one among them is weary or stumbles,No one slumbers or sleeps;Nor is the ^bbelt at their waist undone as if unprepared for action,Nor is the strap of their sandal broken.28 ^aTheir arrows are sharp and all their bows are strung and bent;Their horses’ hoofs seem like flint and their chariot ^bwheels like a whirlwind.29 Their ^aroaring is like a lioness, they roar like young lions;They growl and ^bseize their preyAnd carry it off and there is ^cno one to save it.30 And in that day they will ^aroar against them (Judah) like the roaring of the sea.And if one ^blooks to the land, in fact, there is darkness and distress;Even the light will be darkened by its clouds.