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5 I will sing a song for the Lord.
He is the one I love.
It’s a song about his vineyard Israel.
The one I love had a vineyard.
It was on a hillside that had rich soil.
2 He dug up the soil and removed its stones.
He planted the very best vines in it.
He built a lookout tower there.
He also cut out a winepress for it.
Then he kept looking for a crop of good grapes.
But the vineyard produced only bad fruit.
3 So the Lord said, “People of Jerusalem and Judah,
you be the judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard?
I did everything I could.
I kept looking for a crop of good grapes.
So why did it produce only bad ones?
what I am going to do to my vineyard.
I will take away its fence.
And it will be destroyed.
I will break down its wall.
And people will walk all over it.
6 I will turn my vineyard into a dry and empty desert.
It will not be pruned or taken care of.
Thorns and bushes will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”
7 The vineyard of the Lord who rules over all
is the nation of Israel.
The people of Judah
are the garden he takes delight in.
He kept looking for them to do what is fair.
But all he saw was blood being spilled.
He kept looking for them to do what is right.
But all he heard were cries of suffering.
8 How terrible it will be for you who get too many houses!
How terrible for you who get too many fields!
Finally there won’t be any space left in the land.
Then you will live all alone.
9I heard the Lord who rules over all announce a message. He said,
“You can be sure that the great houses will become empty.
The fine homes will be left with no one living in them.
10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only six gallons of wine.
Six bushels of seeds will produce less than a bushel of grain.”
11 How terrible it will be for those who get up early in the morning
to start drinking!
How terrible for those who stay up late at night
until they are drunk with wine!
12 They have harps and lyres at their big dinners.
They have tambourines, flutes and wine.
But they don’t have any concern for the mighty acts of the Lord.
They don’t have any respect for what his powerful hands have done.
13 So my people will be taken away as prisoners.
That’s because they don’t understand what the Lord has done.
Their government leaders will die of hunger.
The rest of the people won’t have any water to drink.
14 So the grave is hungry to receive them.
Its mouth is open wide to swallow them up.
Their nobles and the rest of the people will go down into it.
They will go there together with all those who have wild parties.
15 So man will be brought low.
People will be put to shame.
Those who brag will be brought down.
16 But the Lord who rules over all will be honored
because he judges fairly.
The holy God will show that he is holy
by doing what is right.
17 Then sheep will graze as if they were in their own grasslands.
Lambs will eat grass among the destroyed buildings
where rich people used to live.
18 How terrible it will be for those who continue to sin
and lie about it!
How terrible for those who keep on doing what is evil
as if they were tied to it!
19 How terrible for those who say,
“Let God hurry up and do what he says he will.
We want to see it happen.
Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan soon.
We want to know what it is.”
20 How terrible it will be for those who say
that what is evil is good!
How terrible for those who say
that what is good is evil!
How terrible for those who say
that darkness is light
and light is darkness!
How terrible for those who say
that what is bitter is sweet
and what is sweet is bitter!
21 How terrible it will be for those who think they are wise!
How terrible for those who think they are really clever!
22 How terrible it will be for those
who are heroes at drinking wine!
How terrible for those
who are heroes at mixing drinks!
who take money to set guilty people free!
How terrible for those
who don’t treat good people fairly!
24 Flames of fire burn up straw.
Dry grass sinks down into those flames.
Evil people will be like plants whose roots rot away.
They will be like flowers that are blown away like dust.
That’s because they have said no to the law of the Lord who rules over all.
They have turned against the message of the Holy One of Israel.
25 So the Lord’s anger burns against his people.
He raises his hand against them. He strikes them down.
The mountains shake.
The bodies of dead people lie in the streets like trash.
Even then, the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised against them.
26 He lifts up a banner to gather the nations that are far away.
He whistles for them to come
from the farthest places on earth.
Here they come.
They are moving very quickly.
None of them falls down.
None of them sleeps or even takes a nap.
All of them are ready for battle.
Every belt is pulled tight.
Not a single sandal strap is broken.
28 The enemies’ arrows are sharp.
All of their bows are ready.
The hoofs of their horses are as hard as rock.
Their chariot wheels turn like a twister.
29 The sound of their army is like the roar of lions.
It’s like the roar of young lions.
They growl as they capture what they were chasing.
They carry it off.
No one can take it away from them.
30 At that time the enemy army will roar over Israel.
It will sound like the roaring of the ocean.
If someone looks at the land of Israel,
he will see darkness and trouble.
The clouds will make even the light become dark.
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About New International Reader’s Version (1998)The New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) was developed to help early readers understand the Bible. Begun in 1992, the NIrV is a simplification of the New International Version (NIV). The NIrV uses shorter words and sentences so that those with a typical fourth grade reading level can comprehend what they are reading. The chapters have been separated into shorter sections and most have titles that clearly indicate what the section is all about. The NIrV will be a valuable translation to those for whom English is a second language. The NIrV still relies on the best and oldest copies of the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts for its translation, guaranteeing that those who read it are getting the actual Word of God. |
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Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved. The NIrV text may be quoted for non-commercial usage in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio) up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without the express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted. Notice of copyright must appear on the title or copyright page of the work as follows: Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER’S VERSION™. Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. When quotations from the NIrV text are used in non-saleable media, such as church bulletins, orders of service, posters, transparencies or similar media, a complete copyright notice is not required, but the initials (NIrV) must appear at the end of each quotation. Any commentary or other Biblical reference work produced for commercial sale that uses the New International Reader’s Version must obtain written permission for use of the NIrV text. Permission requests for commercial use within the U.S. and Canada that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49530. Permission requests for commercial use within the U.K., EEC, and EFTA countries that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, Hodder Headline Plc., 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH, England. Permission requests for non-commercial usage that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, International Bible Society, 1820 Jet Stream Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921. |
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