Isaiah 5:1–7

The Song of the Vineyard

5I will sing for the one I love

a song about his vineyard:^r

My loved one had a vineyard

on a fertile hillside.

²He dug it up and cleared it of stones

and planted it with the choicest vines.^s

He built a watchtower^t in it

and cut out a winepress^u as well.

Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,

but it yielded only bad fruit.^v

³“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.^w

⁴What more could have been done for my vineyard

than I have done for it?^x

When I looked for good grapes,

why did it yield only bad?^y

⁵Now I will tell you

what I am going to do to my vineyard:

I will take away its hedge,

and it will be destroyed;^z

I will break down its wall,^a

and it will be trampled.^b

⁶I will make it a wasteland,^c

neither pruned nor cultivated,

and briers and thorns^d will grow there.

I will command the clouds

not to rain^e on it.”

⁷The vineyard^f of the Lord Almighty

is the nation of Israel,

and the people of Judah

are the vines he delighted in.

And he looked for justice,^g but saw bloodshed;

for righteousness,^h but heard cries of distress.ⁱ