Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: {a very...: Heb. the horn of the son of oil}

The people of thy holiness have possessed {it} but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.

But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. {from me: Heb. from after me} {a goodly...: Heb. an heritage of glory, or, beauty} {pleasant...: Heb. land of desire}

Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch {their} tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.

Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, {even} Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.

Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches. {princes...: or, holy princes}

But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty {and} two months. {leave out: Gr. cast out}

Settle {it} therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen {that} the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command {that} they should not enter into thy congregation. {pleasant: or, desirable}

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe {be} to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.

The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts {is} the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. {his...: Heb. plant of his pleasures} {oppression: Heb. a scab}

For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through {them}; neither can {men} hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone. {habitations: or, pastures} {burned up: or, desolate} {both...: Heb. from the fowl even to, etc}

The priests said not, Where {is} the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after {things that} do not profit.

Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit {them}; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch {their} tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.

But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. {from me: Heb. from after me} {a goodly...: Heb. an heritage of glory, or, beauty} {pleasant...: Heb. land of desire}

And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I {am} the LORD.