4 Or, “dug it up” (so ); “fenced it.’ See עזק.
5 Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4). At this point the love song turns sour as the Lord himself breaks in and completes the story (see vv. 3–6). In the final line of v. 2 the love song presented to the Lord becomes a judgment speech by the Lord.

In other versions

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,

but it yielded wild grapes.

He dug it up and cleared it of stones

and planted it with the choicest vines.

He built a watchtower in it

and cut out a winepress as well.

Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,

but it yielded only bad fruit.

He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones,

and planted it with the finest vines.

He built a tower in the middle of it

and even dug out a winepress there.

He expected it to yield good grapes,

but it yielded worthless grapes.

He plowed the land, cleared its stones,

and planted it with the best vines.

In the middle he built a watchtower

and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks.

Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes,

but the grapes that grew were bitter.

And he dug it and cleared it of stones,

and he planted it with choice vines,

and he built a watchtower in the middle of it,

and he even hewed out a wine vat in it,

and he waited for it to yield grapes—

but it yielded wild grapes.

And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof,

And planted it with the choicest vine,

And built a tower in the midst of it,

And also made a winepress therein:

And he looked that it should bring forth grapes,

And it brought forth wild grapes.

Public Domain