Isaiah

¹ a love ballad about his vineyard: The one I love had a vineyard, a fine, well-placed vineyard.

² and planted the very best vines. He built a lookout, built a winepress, a vineyard to be proud of. He looked for a vintage yield of grapes, but for all his pains he got junk grapes.

³ you who live in Jerusalem and Judah. What do you think is going on between me and my vineyard?

⁴ to my vineyard that I didn't do? When I expected good grapes, why did I get bitter grapes?

⁵ what I'll do to my vineyard: I'll tear down its fence and let it go to ruin. I'll knock down the gate and let it be trampled.

⁶ thistles and thorns will take over. I'll give orders to the clouds: 'Don't rain on that vineyard, ever!' "

⁷ is the country of Israel. All the men and women of Judah are the garden he was so proud of. He looked for a crop of justice and saw them murdering each other. He looked for a harvest of righteousness and heard only the moans of victims.

⁸ and grab all the land for yourselves— Evicting the old owners, posting no trespassing signs, Taking over the country, leaving everyone homeless and landless.

⁹ "Those mighty houses will end up empty. Those extravagant estates will be deserted.

¹⁰ a fifty-pound sack of seed, a quart of grain."

¹¹ and start drinking booze before breakfast, Who stay up all hours of the night drinking themselves into a stupor.

¹² with harps and flutes and plenty of wine, But they'll have nothing to do with the work of God, pay no mind to what he is doing.

¹³ because they don't know the score. Their "big men" will starve to death and the common people die of thirst.

¹⁴ swallowing people nonstop! Big people and little people alike down that gullet, to say nothing of all the drunks.

¹⁵ with the high-and-mighty, Windbag boasters crumpled, flaccid as a punctured bladder.

¹⁶ God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be a mountain. By working righteousness, Holy God will show what "holy" is.

¹⁷ as if they owned the place, Kids and calves right at home in the ruins.

¹⁸ who haul sin to market by the truckload,

¹⁹ Let him get a move on so we can see it. Whatever The Holy of Israel has cooked up, we'd like to check it out."

²⁰ and good evil, Who put darkness in place of light and light in place of darkness, Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

²¹ who hold such a high opinion of yourselves!

²² who collect trophies from drinking bouts

²³ while you violate the rights of the innocent.

²⁴ and dry grass goes up in smoke, Their souls will atrophy, their achievements crumble into dust, Because they said no to the revelation of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Would have nothing to do with The Holy of Israel.

²⁵ reached out and knocked them down. The mountains trembled as their dead bodies piled up in the streets. But even after that, he was still angry, his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

²⁶ whistles for people at the ends of the earth. And here they come— on the run!

²⁷ no one sleeps or dawdles. Shirts are on and pants buckled, every boot is spit-polished and tied.

²⁸ bows strung, The hooves of their horses shod, chariot wheels greased.

²⁹ the full-throated roars of young lions, They growl and seize their prey, dragging it off—no rescue for that one!

³⁰ like the roar of ocean billows. Look as long and hard as you like at that land, you'll see nothing but darkness and trouble. Every light in the sky will be blacked out by the clouds.