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.

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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
  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

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of (A)Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And (B)the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
(C)He shall not judge by (D)what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by (E)what his ears hear,
but (F)with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall (G)strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and (H)with the breath of his lips (I)he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and (J)faithfulness the belt of his loins.

(K)The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
(L)They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all (M)my holy mountain;
(N)for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day (O)the root of (P)Jesse, who shall stand as (Q)a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

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The Coming of the Son of Man

29 “Immediately after (A)the tribulation of those days (B)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and (C)the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then (D)will appear in heaven (E)the sign of the Son of Man, and then (F)all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and (G)they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven (H)with power and great glory. 31 And (I)he will send out his angels with a loud (J)trumpet call, and they will (K)gather (L)his elect from (M)the four winds, (N)from one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, (O)at the very gates. 34 (P)Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 (Q)Heaven and earth will pass away, but (R)my words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day and Hour

36 “But concerning that day and hour (S)no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, (T)nor the Son,[a] (U)but the Father only. 37 (V)For as were the days of Noah, (W)so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 (X)For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, (Y)marrying and giving in marriage, until (Z)the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, (AA)so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 (AB)Two women will be grinding (AC)at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, (AD)stay awake, for you do not know on what day (AE)your Lord is coming. 43 (AF)But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night (AG)the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be (AH)ready, for (AI)the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

45 “Who then is (AJ)the faithful and (AK)wise servant,[b] whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 (AL)Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, (AM)he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master (AN)is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants[c] and eats and drinks with (AO)drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come (AP)on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place (AQ)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts omit nor the Son
  2. Matthew 24:45 Or bondservant; also verses 46, 48, 50
  3. Matthew 24:49 Or bondservants

To the Church in Thyatira

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, (A)who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

19 (B)“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman (C)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants (D)to practice sexual immorality and (E)to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but (F)she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he (G)who searches mind and heart, and (H)I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call (I)the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I (J)do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast (K)what you have until I come. 26 (L)The one who conquers and who keeps my works (M)until the end, (N)to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and (O)he will (P)rule[a] them with a rod of iron, (Q)as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him (R)the morning star. 29 (S)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Sardis

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him (T)who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation (U)of being alive, (V)but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works (W)complete in the sight of my God. (X)Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, (Y)I will come (Z)like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not (AA)soiled their garments, and they will walk with me (AB)in white, for they are (AC)worthy. (AD)The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never (AE)blot his name out of (AF)the book of life. (AG)I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. (AH)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 2:27 Greek shepherd

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