10 (A)Israel is a luxuriant vine
    that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
    (B)the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
    he improved his pillars.

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10 Israel was a spreading vine;(A)
    he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
    he built more altars;(B)
as his land prospered,(C)
    he adorned his sacred stones.(D)

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11 Because Ephraim (A)has multiplied altars for sinning,
    they have become to him altars for sinning.

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11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
    these have become altars for sinning.(A)

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11 (A)If there is iniquity in Gilead,
    they shall surely come to nothing:
(B)in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
    (C)their altars also are like stone heaps
    (D)on the furrows of the field.

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11 Is Gilead wicked?(A)
    Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?(B)
    Their altars will be like piles of stones
    on a plowed field.(C)

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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]

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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

The Song of the Vineyard

I will sing for the one I love
    a song about his vineyard:(A)
My loved one had a vineyard
    on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones
    and planted it with the choicest vines.(B)
He built a watchtower(C) in it
    and cut out a winepress(D) as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
    but it yielded only bad fruit.(E)

“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
    judge between me and my vineyard.(F)
What more could have been done for my vineyard
    than I have done for it?(G)
When I looked for good grapes,
    why did it yield only bad?(H)
Now I will tell you
    what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
    and it will be destroyed;(I)
I will break down its wall,(J)
    and it will be trampled.(K)
I will make it a wasteland,(L)
    neither pruned nor cultivated,
    and briers and thorns(M) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain(N) on it.”

The vineyard(O) of the Lord Almighty
    is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice,(P) but saw bloodshed;
    for righteousness,(Q) but heard cries of distress.(R)

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21 For they all (A)seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

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21 For everyone looks out for their own interests,(A) not those of Jesus Christ.

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For (A)none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, (B)whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.

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For none of us lives for ourselves alone,(A) and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.(B)

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28 But (A)where are your gods
    that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, (B)if they can save you,
    in your time of trouble;
for (C)as many as your cities
    are your gods, O Judah.

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28 Where then are the gods(A) you made for yourselves?
    Let them come if they can save you
    when you are in trouble!(B)
For you, Judah, have as many gods
    as you have towns.(C)

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Blessings for Obedience

26 “You shall not make (A)idols for yourselves or erect an (B)image or (C)pillar, and you shall not set up a (D)figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.

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Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols(A) or set up an image(B) or a sacred stone(C) for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone(D) in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

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I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the (A)true vine, and my Father is (B)the vinedresser. (C)Every branch in me that does not bear fruit (D)he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, (E)that it may bear more fruit. Already (F)you are clean (G)because of the word that I have spoken to you. (H)Abide (I)in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; (J)you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that (K)bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me (L)he is thrown away like a branch and withers; (M)and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

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The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am(A) the true vine,(B) and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,(C) while every branch that does bear fruit(D) he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.(E) Remain in me, as I also remain in you.(F) No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;(G) apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. John 15:2 The Greek for he prunes also means he cleans.

Jerusalem, a Useless Vine

15 And the word of the Lord came to me: (A)“Son of man, how does (B)the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take (C)a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? (D)Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? (E)Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything!

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Jerusalem as a Useless Vine

15 The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine(A) different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful?(B) Do they make pegs(C) from it to hang things on? And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything?(D) If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?

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23 For they also built for themselves (A)high places (B)and pillars and (C)Asherim on every high hill and (D)under every green tree,

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23 They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones(A) and Asherah poles(B) on every high hill and under every spreading tree.(C)

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16 From now on, therefore, (A)we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.

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16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly(A) point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

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“Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in (A)the fifth month and in (B)the seventh, for these (C)seventy years, (D)was it (E)for me that you fasted? (F)And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?

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“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted(A) and mourned in the fifth and seventh(B) months for the past seventy years,(C) was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?(D)

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