1 Please let me sing to my beloved a song {shirat: dedicatory song} of my beloved concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hillside {ben-shamen: fertile hillside}.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted it with a vine {sorek: choicest cultivated variety}; he built a tower in its midst and carved out a winepress {yekev: rock-hewn vat} within it. Then he waited for it to bear grapes, but it produced wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between Me {YHWH, Divine Plaintiff} and My vineyard {kar-mi: covenant people}.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard {kerem: cultivated plot}, that I have not done in it? Why, when I hoped it would produce grapes, did it yield wild grapes {beushim: sour or worthless fruit}?
5 And now, let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: Remove its hedge {mesukah: protective barrier}, and it will be consumed; break down its wall, and it will become a place for trampling {mirmas: being crushed underfoot}.
6 And I {YHWH, Righteous Judge} will make it a wasteland; it will not be pruned {yizzamer: trimmed or cultivated} or hoed {ye'ader: loosened or dug}, but briers and thorns will come up. I will also command the clouds not to rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Divine Commander} is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His delightful planting {sha’ashuav: special delight}; He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry.
8 Woe to those who join house to house {maggiei: annexation} and field to field, until there is no place left, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land {eretz: territory}.
9 In my ears the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tseva’ot, Divine Commander} has sworn: Surely many houses shall become desolate, great and beautiful ones without a resident {yoshev: one who dwells}.
10 For ten yoke-spans of vineyard will yield but one bath {bat: approx. 22 liters}, and the seed of a homer will yield only an ephah {eifah: one-tenth homer}.
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to pursue strong drink {shekhar: intoxicating liquor} and who remain until nightfall, as wine inflames them {yadlikem: excites passion}.
12 And the harp and lute, the tambourine and flute, and wine are at their feasts {mishtehem: festive gatherings}, but the work of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Sovereign} they do not regard, nor do they see the deed of His hand.
13 Therefore My {YHWH, Righteous Judge} people have gone into exile {galah: forced removal} because of lack of knowledge, and honored men are dying of hunger, and the multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore, Sheol {sheol: realm of the dead} has enlarged her appetite {nafesh: consuming hunger} and opened her mouth without measure; her splendor, her multitude, her uproar, and he who exults will go down into it.
15 So man {adam: corporate humanity} is brought low, and each person is humbled, and the eyes of the proud {gevohim: exalted or arrogant ones} will be brought low.
16 But the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tzva’ot, Supreme Commander} will be exalted in judgment, and the Holy God will be sanctified in righteousness {tzedakah: covenant faithfulness}.
17 Then lambs will graze in their customary manner {kedavram: according to their own custom}, and strangers will eat the desolate fields of the rich {mechiyim: those who were prosperous}.
18 Woe to those who draw iniquity {he’avon: moral twisting} with cords of falsehood {hashav: deceitful lies}, and haul sin as with ropes of a cart.
19 Those who say, “Let Him hasten; let Him speed up His work {ma‘ăsêhû: His action}, so that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel {Kedosh Yisrael, Divine Judge} draw near and come, so that we may know it.”
20 Woe {hoy: solemn pronouncement of judgment} to those who say to evil “good” and to good “evil,” who set darkness for light and light for darkness, who set bitter {mar: harsh or distressing experience} for sweet and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe to those who are wise {chakamim: self-assured} in their own eyes and discerning in their own sight {ayin: perception}.
22 Woe to the mighty ones {gibborim: valiant warriors} who drink wine, and to men of strength who mix strong drink {shekhar: intoxicating libation}.
23 Those who justify the wicked for a bribe {shochad: illicit inducement} and remove the righteousness of the righteous {tsaddikim: people committed to justice} from him.
24 Therefore, just as the tongue of fire devours stubble and the flame consumes chaff, so their root will be like decay {mak: rottenness} and their blossom will rise like dust, because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tzva’ot: Divine Commander} and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore the anger of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} was kindled against His people, and He stretched out His hand over them and struck them, and the mountains trembled, and their corpses became like refuse in the midst of the streets. In all this, His anger {af: fierce wrath} has not turned back, and His hand is still outstretched.
26 And He will lift up a banner {nes: rallying standard} to the nations from afar, and will whistle to them from the end {miketseh: utmost boundary} of the earth; and behold, they will come swiftly and quickly.
27 There is no one weary {ayef: utterly exhausted} or stumbling among them; none slumbers or sleeps. The belt of his loins is not loosened, and the strap of his shoes is not torn {nitak: torn apart}.
28 Whose arrows are sharpened, and all his bows are bent; the hoofs of his horses are like flint {tzar: hard stone}, and his wheels like the whirlwind {sufah: raging storm}.
29 The roaring {she’agah: intense ferocious cry} will be to him like a lion, and he will roar; he will roar like young lions; he will growl and seize prey, and he will carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver {matzil: rescue agent}.
30 And he will roar over him on that day like the roaring of the sea; and when one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress {tzar: anguish, narrowness}, and the light is darkened in its clouds {aripheha: thick skies}.