³ [^CThe vineyard owner now speaks:] “You ·people living in [residents/citizens of] Jerusalem,
    and you people of Judah,
    judge between me and my vineyard [^Cthe scene changes from a love song to a courtroom indictment].
⁴ What more could I have done for my vineyard
    than I have already done?
Although I ·expected [waited/looked for] good grapes to grow,
    why ·were there [did it produce] only ·bad [sour; wild] ones?
⁵ Now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard:
I will remove the hedge,
    and it will ·be burned [be purged/destroyed; or become a pasture].
I will break down the stone wall,
    and it will be ·walked [trampled; ^Creferring to the Assyrian conquest in 722 bc].
⁶ I will ·ruin my field [make it a wasteland; leave it untended].
    It will not be ·trimmed [pruned] or hoed,
    and ·weeds [briers] and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain on it.”

⁷ [^LFor; Because] The vineyard belonging to the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts]
    is the ·nation [^Lhouse] of Israel;
and the people of Judah
    are the ·garden [vines; plants] that he ·loves [delights in].
He looked for justice, but ·there was [look; behold] only ·killing [bloodshed; or oppression; injustice; ^Cthe Hebrew words for “justice” and “killing” sound alike].
    He hoped for ·right living [righteousness], but ·there were [look; behold] only ·cries of pain [cries of distress; or an outrcy; ^Cthe Hebrew words for “righteousness” and “cries of pain” sound alike].

⁸ ·How terrible it will be for [^LWoe to] you who add more houses to your houses
    and more fields to your fields [^Caccumulating wealth at the expense of others, in violation of God’s command that tribal allotments be permanent; Lev. 25:23]
until ·there is no room left for other people [no space is left].
    Then you are left alone in the land.

“·The fine [The great; or Many] houses will ·be destroyed [become desolate];
    the large and beautiful houses will be left empty [^Lof inhabitants].
¹⁰ At that time a ·ten-acre [^Lten-yoke; ^Cunknown measurement, though clearly a large area] vineyard will make only ·six gallons [^Lone bath] of wine,
    and ·ten bushels [^La homer] of seed will grow only one bushel [^Lan ephah; ^Cone tenth of a homer] of grain.”

¹¹ ·How terrible it will be for people [^LWoe to those] who rise early in the morning
    to ·look for [run after; pursue] ·strong drink [or beer; ^Calcoholic beverage made from grain],
who ·stay awake late at night [linger into twilight],
    becoming ·drunk [^Linflamed] with wine.
¹² At their ·parties [banquets; feasts] they have lyres, harps,
    tambourines, flutes, and wine.
They ·don’t see [or have no regard for] what the Lord has done
    or ·notice [see; comprehend] the work of his hands.
¹³ So my people will ·be captured and taken away [be deported; go into exile/captivity],
    because they ·don’t really know me [or lack understanding].
·All the great people [Their nobles/men of honor] will die of hunger,
    and the ·common people [multitudes; masses] ·will die of [or will be parched with] thirst.
¹⁴ So ·the place of the dead [or the grave; ^LSheol] ·wants more and more people [^Lopens wide/enlarges its throat],
    and it opens wide its mouth.
·Jerusalem’s [^LHer] ·important people [nobility] and ·common people [multitude; masses] will go down into it,
    with their ·happy and noisy ones [noisy revellers; drunken mob].
¹⁵ ·People [Humanity] will be humbled, ·everyone [each person; mankind] will be brought down;
    ·those who are [^Lthe eyes of the] ·proud [haughty] will be humbled.
¹⁶ The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts] will ·receive glory [be exalted] by ·judging fairly [his justice];
    the holy God will show himself holy by ·doing what is right [righteousnes].
¹⁷ Then the ·sheep [or lambs] will ·go anywhere they want [^Lfeed as if in their pasture],
    and ·lambs [or strangers; foreigners] will feed ·on the land that rich people once owned [among the ruins of the rich].

¹⁸ ·How terrible it will be for [^LWoe to] those people!
    They pull ·their guilt and sins behind them
    as people pull wagons with ropes [^Lwickedness with the ropes of emptiness and sin with cart ropes].
¹⁹ They say, “Let God hurry;
    let him do his work ·soon [quickly]
    so we may see it.
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel [1:4] ·happen soon [approach and draw near]
    so that we will know what it is.”

²⁰ ·How terrible it will be for people [^LWoe to those] who call ·good things bad
    and bad things good [^Levil good and good evil],
who ·think darkness is [or make darkness] light
    and ·light is [or make light] darkness,
who ·think sour is [or turn sour/bitter to] sweet
    and sweet ·is sour [or to sour/bitter].

²¹ ·How terrible it will be for people [^LWoe to those] who ·think they are wise [^Lare wise in their own eyes; Prov. 3:7; 26:12; 27:1; 28:11, 26]
and ·believe they are clever [^Lclever/understanding in front of themselves].

²² ·How terrible it will be for people [^LWoe to those] who are ·famous for [heroes/champions at] drinking wine
    and are ·champions [valiant men] at mixing ·drinks [beer; v. 11].
²³ They take ·money [a bribe] to ·set the guilty free [acquit the wicked]
    and ·don’t allow good people to be judged fairly [deny justice/righteousness to the innocent/righteous].
²⁴ [^LTherefore] They will be destroyed
    just as ·fire [^Ltongues of fire] ·burns [^Ldevours] straw
    and dry grass ·is consumed by [^Lsinks in the] flames.
They will be destroyed
    like a plant whose roots rot
    and whose flower dies and blows away like dust.
They have ·refused to obey [rejected; spurned] the ·teachings [law; ^LTorah] of the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts]
    and have ·hated [despised] the message from the Holy One of Israel [1:4].
²⁵ So the ·Lord has become very angry with [^LLord’s anger burns against] his people,
    and he ·has raised [extends; stretches out] his hand to ·punish [strike] them.
Even the mountains ·are frightened [shake; tremble].
    ·Dead bodies [Corpses] lie in the streets like garbage.

·But the Lord is still angry [^LIn all this, his anger is not turned away];
his hand is still ·raised [extended; stretched out] to strike down the people.

²⁶ He raises a ·banner [standard; signal flag] for the nations far away.
    He whistles to call those people from the ends of the earth.
·Look [^TBehold]! ·The enemy comes ·quickly [swiftly; with great speed]!
²⁷ Not one of them becomes tired or ·falls down [stumbles].
    Not one of them ·gets sleepy [slumbers] and falls asleep.
·Their weapons are close at hand [^LNo belt is loosened],
    and their sandal straps are not broken.
²⁸ Their arrows are sharp,
    and all of their bows are ready to shoot.
The horses’ hoofs ·are hard as rocks [or make sparks like flint],
    and their chariot wheels move like a ·whirlwind [wind storm].
²⁹ Their ·shout is like the roar of [^Lroar is like] a lion;
    it ·is loud [^Lroars] like a young lion.
They growl as they grab their ·captives [prey].
    They carry it off and no one can ·save [rescue] it.
³⁰ On that day they will roar [^Lover it]
    like the ·waves [^Lroaring] of the sea.
And ·when [if] people look at the land,
    they will see only darkness and ·pain [distress];
all light will become dark ·in this thick cloud [or because of clouds].