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5
1 I will sing now for my beloved, the song of my dear one touching his vineyard. A vineyard had my beloved on a rich hill-top; 2 And he fenced it in, and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in its midst, and also a winepress he hewed out therein: and he hoped that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth worthless fruit. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was to be done to my vineyard, that I had not done in it? Why then did I hope that it should bring forth grapes, while it brought forth worthless fruit? 5 And now I will let you know also what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten off; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trodden down; 6 And I will lay it quite waste; it shall not be pruned, nor hoed around; and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; and the clouds will I command that they send down no rain upon it. 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of his delight: and he hoped for justice, but behold injustice; for equity, but behold iniquity. 8 Woe unto those that cause house to join on house, bring field near to field, till there is no more room, so that ye may be left alone as the inhabitants in the midst of the land! 9 In my ears [spoke] the Lord of hosts, Truly many houses shall become desolate, yea, great and beautiful ones without an inhabitant. 10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield [but] one bath, and a chomer-seed shall yield [but] an ephah. 11 Woe unto those that rise up early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink; that continue until late in the twilight, till wine inflame them! 12 And there are harp and psaltery, tambourine and flute, and wine at their drinking-feasts; but the deeds of the Lord they regard not, and the works of his hands they behold not. 13 Therefore are my people led into exile, for want of knowledge: and their honorable men suffer of famine, and their multitude are panting with thirst. 14 Therefore hath the deep enlarged her desire, and opened her mouth without measure: and there descend [Jerusalem's] glory, and her multitude, and her noise, and whoever rejoiced therein. 15 And bent down shall be the son of earth, and humbled shall be the man, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled; 16 And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be sanctified by [displaying his] righteousness. 17 Then shall the sheep feed according to their wont, and the ruins of the fat ones shall sojourners eat. 18 Woe unto those that draw iniquity with the cords of falsehood, and as with a wagon-rope, sinfulness; 19 That say, Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it: and let draw nigh and come the counsel of the Holy One of Israel, that we may know it! 20 Woe unto those that say of the evil it is good, and of the good it is evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe unto those that are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent in their own esteem! 22 Woe unto those that are heroes to drink wine, and men of might to mingle strong drink; 23 Who justify the wicked in lieu of a bribe, and who deprive the righteous of their right! 24 Therefore as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubble, and dry hay sinketh before the flame: so shall their root be as rotten things, and their blossom shall fly up as the dust; because they have despised the law of the Lord of hosts, and the word of the Holy One of Israel they have rejected. 25 For this cause is kindled the anger of the Lord against his people, and he stretcheth forth his hand against them, and he smiteth them; and the mountains tremble, and their carcasses lie like sweepings in the midst of the streets: with all this his anger is not turned away, but still is his hand stretched out. 26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar, and will call for one of them from the end of the earth; and, behold, with speed, swiftly, it cometh; 27 There is none weary, nor stumbling among its men; it slumbereth not, it sleepeth not; not loosened is the girdle of its loins, not broken is the latchet of its shoes; 28 Whose arrows are sharpened, and all whose bows are bent; its horses hoofs are hard like the flint, and its wheels like the whirlwind; 29 It hath a roar like the lioness, it roareth like the young lions: yea, it growleth, and layeth hold of the prey, and carrieth it safely off, with none to deliver. 30 And it will rage against them on that day like with the raging of the sea: and if one look unto the earth, behold, there is darkness, oppression, and the light is darkened through the darkness of its clouds.

- Isaiah
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