The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed

Let me sing for my beloved
    my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had (A)a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
    and planted it with (B)choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
    and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and (C)he looked for it to yield grapes,
    but it yielded wild grapes.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
(D)What more was there to do for my vineyard,
    that I have not done in it?
(E)When I looked for it to yield grapes,
    why did it yield wild grapes?

And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove (F)its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;[a]
(G)I will break down its wall,
    and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste;
    it shall not be pruned or hoed,
    and (H)briers and thorns shall grow up;
(I)I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.

(J)For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
    but behold, bloodshed;[b]
for righteousness,
    but behold, an outcry![c]

Woe to the Wicked

Woe to those who (K)join house to house,
    who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
    and you are made to dwell alone
    in the midst of the land.
The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
(L)“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 (M)For ten acres[d] of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
    and a (N)homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”[e]

11 Woe to those who (O)rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
    as wine inflames them!
12 (P)They have lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
(Q)but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
    or see the work of his hands.

13 Therefore my people go into exile
    (R)for lack of knowledge;[f]
their (S)honored men go hungry,[g]
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has (T)enlarged its appetite
    and opened (U)its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem[h] and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who (V)exults in her.
15 (W)Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty[i] are brought low.
16 (X)But the Lord of hosts is exalted[j] in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs graze (Y)as in their pasture,
    and (Z)nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with (AA)cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: (AB)“Let him be quick,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
    and let it come, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to (AC)those who call evil good
    and good evil,
(AD)who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are (AE)wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are (AF)heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who (AG)acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

24 Therefore, (AH)as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so (AI)their root will be (AJ)as rottenness,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have (AK)rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
    and have (AL)despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore (AM)the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
    and (AN)the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were (AO)as refuse
    in the midst of the streets.
(AP)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

26 He will (AQ)raise a signal for nations far away,
    and (AR)whistle for them (AS)from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27 (AT)None is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
    not a sandal strap broken;
28 (AU)their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels (AV)like the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and (AW)seize their prey;
    they carry it off, and none can rescue.
30 They will growl over it on that day,
    like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
    behold, (AX)darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.

Isaiah's Vision of the Lord

In the year that (AY)King Uzziah died I (AZ)saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[k] of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had (BA)six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

(BB)“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
(BC)the whole earth is full of his glory!”[l]

And (BD)the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and (BE)the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! (BF)For I am lost; (BG)for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the (BH)King, the Lord of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he (BI)touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for (BJ)us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

(BK)“‘Keep on hearing,[m] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,[n] but do not perceive.’
10 (BL)Make the heart of this people (BM)dull,[o]
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
(BN)lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, (BO)“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until (BP)cities lie waste
    without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
    and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 (BQ)And though a tenth remain in it,
    it will be burned[p] again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
    whose stump (BR)remains
    when it is felled.”
(BS)The holy seed[q] is its stump.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:5 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5
  2. Isaiah 5:7 The Hebrew words for justice and bloodshed sound alike
  3. Isaiah 5:7 The Hebrew words for righteous and outcry sound alike
  4. Isaiah 5:10 Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day
  5. Isaiah 5:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
  6. Isaiah 5:13 Or without their knowledge
  7. Isaiah 5:13 Or die of hunger
  8. Isaiah 5:14 Hebrew her nobility
  9. Isaiah 5:15 Hebrew high
  10. Isaiah 5:16 Hebrew high
  11. Isaiah 6:1 Or hem
  12. Isaiah 6:3 Or may his glory fill the whole earth
  13. Isaiah 6:9 Or Hear indeed
  14. Isaiah 6:9 Or see indeed
  15. Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew fat
  16. Isaiah 6:13 Or purged
  17. Isaiah 6:13 Or offspring

Greeting

Paul, (A)an apostle of Christ Jesus (B)by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and (C)are faithful[a] in Christ Jesus:

(D)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

(E)Blessed be (F)the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing (G)in the heavenly places, (H)even as he (I)chose us in him (J)before the foundation of the world, that we should be (K)holy and blameless before him. In love (L)he predestined us[b] for (M)adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, (N)according to the purpose of his will, (O)to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in (P)the Beloved. (Q)In him we have (R)redemption (S)through his blood, (T)the forgiveness of our trespasses, (U)according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight (V)making known[c] to us the mystery of his will, (W)according to his purpose, which he (X)set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for (Y)the fullness of time, (Z)to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained (AA)an inheritance, (AB)having been predestined (AC)according to the purpose of him who works all things according to (AD)the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be (AE)to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard (AF)the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, (AG)were sealed with the (AH)promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is (AI)the guarantee[d] of our (AJ)inheritance until (AK)we acquire (AL)possession of it,[e] (AM)to the praise of his glory.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

15 For this reason, (AN)because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[f] toward all the saints, 16 I (AO)do not cease to give thanks for you, (AP)remembering you in my prayers, 17 that (AQ)the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, (AR)may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 (AS)having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is (AT)the hope to which he has called you, what are (AU)the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, (AV)according to the working of (AW)his great might 20 that he worked in Christ (AX)when he raised him from the dead and (AY)seated him at his right hand (AZ)in the heavenly places, 21 (BA)far above (BB)all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above (BC)every name that is named, not only in (BD)this age but also in the one to come. 22 And (BE)he put all things under his feet and gave him as (BF)head over all things to the church, 23 (BG)which is his body, (BH)the fullness of him (BI)who fills (BJ)all in all.

Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 1:1 Some manuscripts saints who are also faithful (omitting in Ephesus)
  2. Ephesians 1:5 Or before him in love, 5having predestined us
  3. Ephesians 1:9 Or he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known…
  4. Ephesians 1:14 Or down payment
  5. Ephesians 1:14 Or until God redeems his possession
  6. Ephesians 1:15 Some manuscripts omit your love

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