Isaiah 5:1–7

Israel, the Lord’s Vineyard

5Now I will sing for my friend a song about his vineyard.

My friend had a vineyard

on a hill with very rich soil.

²He dug and cleared the field of stones

and planted the best grapevines there.

He built a tower in the middle of it

and cut out a winepress as well.

He hoped good grapes would grow there,

but only bad ones grew.

³My friend says, “You people living in Jerusalem,

and you people of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.

⁴What more could I have done for my vineyard

than I have already done?

Although I expected good grapes to grow,

why were there only bad ones?

⁵Now I will tell you

what I will do to my vineyard:

I will remove the hedge,

and it will be burned.

I will break down the stone wall,

and it will be walked on.

⁶I will ruin my field.

It will not be trimmed or hoed,

and weeds and thorns will grow there.

I will command the clouds

not to rain on it.”

⁷The vineyard belonging to the Lord All-Powerful

is the nation of Israel;

the garden that he loves

is the people of Judah.

He looked for justice, but there was only killing.

He hoped for right living, but there were only cries of pain.