I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the ^(A)true vine, and my Father is ^(B)the vinedresser.

The Parable of the Tenants

12 ^(A)And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted ^(B)a vineyard ^(C)and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and ^(D)leased it to tenants and ^(E)went into another country.

¹² And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is ^(A)the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and ^(B)he shall build the temple of the Lord.

⁸ Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for ^(A)they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring ^(B)my servant ^(C)the Branch.

²² Thus says the Lord God: ^(A)“I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. ^(B)I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and ^(C)I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. ^23 (D)On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. ^(E)And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. ²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; ^(F)I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up ^(G)the green tree, and make ^(H)the dry tree flourish. ^(I)I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

^5 (A)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous ^(B)Branch, and ^(C)he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and ^(D)Israel will ^(E)dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ^(F)‘The Lord is our righteousness.’