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

(A)though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: (B)circumcised on the eighth day, (C)of the people of Israel, (D)of the tribe of Benjamin, (E)a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, (F)a Pharisee; (G)as to zeal, (H)a persecutor of the church; (I)as to righteousness under the law,[a] blameless. But (J)whatever gain I had, (K)I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of (L)the surpassing worth of (M)knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I (N)have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having (O)a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but (P)that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 (Q)that I may know him and (R)the power of his resurrection, and (S)may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may (T)attain the resurrection from the dead.

Straining Toward the Goal

12 Not that I have already (U)obtained this or (V)am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: (W)forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for (X)the prize of the upward (Y)call of God in Christ Jesus.

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Footnotes

  1. Philippians 3:6 Greek in the law

The Parable of the Tenants

33 (A)“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted (B)a vineyard (C)and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and (D)leased it to tenants, and (E)went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants[a] to the tenants (F)to get his fruit. 35 (G)And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and (H)stoned another. 36 (I)Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, (J)‘This is the heir. Come, (K)let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and (L)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 (M)When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, (N)“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and (O)let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, (P)“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

(Q)“‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;[b]
this was the Lord's doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God (R)will be taken away from you and given to a people (S)producing its fruits. 44 And (T)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and (U)when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”[c]

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And (V)although they were seeking to arrest him, (W)they feared the crowds, because they held him to be (X)a prophet.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:34 Or bondservants; also verses 35, 36
  2. Matthew 21:42 Greek the head of the corner
  3. Matthew 21:44 Some manuscripts omit verse 44

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