1  Let me sing for my beloved

my love song concerning his ^hvineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard

on a very fertile hill.

2  He dug it and cleared it of stones,

and planted it with choice vines;

he built a watchtower in the midst of it,

and hewed out a wine vat in it;

and he looked for it to yield grapes,

ⁱbut it yielded wild grapes.

3  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem

and men of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.

4  What more was there to do for my vineyard,

that I have not done in it?

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 its hedge,

and it shall be devoured;¹

I will ^jbreak down its wall,

and it shall be trampled down.

6  I will make it a waste;

it shall not be pruned or hoed,

and briers and thorns shall grow up;

I will also command the clouds

that they rain no rain upon it.

7  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;²

for righteousness,

but behold, an outcry!³

2  In that day,

“A pleasant ^wvineyard,¹ sing of it!

3  I, the Lord, am its keeper;

every moment I water it.

Lest anyone punish it,

I keep it night and day;

4  I have no wrath.

Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!

I would march against them,

I would burn them up together.

5  Or let them lay hold of my protection,

let them make peace with me,

let them make peace with me.”

6  In days to come² Jacob ^xshall take root,

Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots

and fill the whole world with fruit.