A Song About a Vineyard
I will sing a song about my dear friend and his vineyard. My dear friend had a vineyard on a very good hill. He built a fence around it. He picked out the stones. He planted the best vines. He built a tower in the middle of it. He also made a place to press grapes for wine. He expected it to grow good grapes. But it grew wild grapes.
Now, people of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. What more could I have done for my vineyard? I did everything for it. So why did it grow wild grapes when I expected good grapes?
Now listen. I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its fence. It will be eaten up. I will break down its wall. It will be walked on. I will destroy it. It will not be cared for or dug up. Thorns and weeds will grow there. I will also command the clouds to not rain on it.
The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel. The men of Judah are his special plants. He looked for fairness, but he found people hurting others. He looked for goodness, but he heard people crying.
It Will Be Bad for Selfish People
It will be bad for those who add house to house until there is no room left. They want to live alone in the middle of the land.
The Lord of Hosts said in my ears: Many houses will be empty. Great and beautiful cities will have no people in them. Ten acres of vineyard will only make a little bit of juice. A lot of seed will only make a little bit of grain.
It will be bad for those who get up early in the morning to drink alcohol. They keep drinking until late at night. Wine makes them drunk. They have harps, viols, tambourines, pipes, and wine at their parties. But they don’t pay attention to the work of the Lord. They don’t think about what he has done.
My people have been taken away to another land because they don’t know better. Their important men are starving. Their crowds are dying of thirst. So hell has opened its mouth wide. Their glory, their crowds, their pride, and those who were happy will go down into it.
Common people will be brought down. Powerful people will be humbled. Proud people will be humbled. But the Lord of Hosts will be honored by being fair. God who is holy will be honored by doing what is right. Then lambs will eat as they always do. Strangers will eat in the empty places where rich people used to live.
More Warnings
It will be bad for those who pull sin along with ropes. They drag it like a cart. They say: Let God hurry up his work so we can see it. Let the Holy One of Israel’s plan come soon so we can know it.
It will be bad for those who call evil good and good evil. They say darkness is light and light is darkness. They say bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. It will be bad for those who think they are wise. They think they are smart.
It will be bad for those who are great at drinking wine. They are strong at mixing alcohol. They let guilty people go free for money. They take away the rights of good people.
God’s Anger and Judgment
Fire burns up dry grass. Flames burn up straw. Their roots will rot. Their flowers will blow away like dust. This happens because they threw away the law of the Lord of Hosts. They hated the word of the Holy One of Israel. So the Lord is angry at his people. He has raised his hand against them. He has hit them. The hills shook. Their dead bodies were left in the streets. But he is still angry. His hand is still raised.
An Army Is Coming
He will lift up a flag to call nations from far away. He will call to them from the end of the earth. They will come very fast. None of them will be tired or trip. None will rest or sleep. Their belts will not come loose. Their shoes will not break. Their arrows will be sharp. All their bows will be ready. Their horses’ feet will be like hard stone. Their chariot wheels will spin like a windstorm. They will roar like a lion.
They will roar like young lions. They will roar and grab their prey. They will carry it away safely. No one will save it. On that day they will roar against them like the roaring of the sea. If they look at the land, they will see darkness and sadness. The light will be dark in the sky above them.