5 Let me sing for my beloved
    my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had ^(A)a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
² 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.
³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
^4 (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?
⁵ 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.
⁶ 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.
^7 (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]

⁸ 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.
⁹ 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)honoured 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 revellers 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.