1. Singing the praise of my beloved,
the praises of my beloved for his vineyard,
the vineyard is for my beloved
a corner of the heavenly country.
2. He words it and surrounds it with streams,
and he plants in it the best of vines,
and he builds a tower in it,
and even a winepress he makes in it,
but though he wants it to produce grapes,
it produces carobs.
3. Now, then, O men of Judea
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4. What was I again supposed to do for my
vineyard
that I did not do;
that I intended to produce grapes,
but instead I produced carobs?
5. Now I will show what I will do to the
vineyard;
I will dig up the tower,
and it shall be used for firewood,*
and shut down its aqueducts,
to be filled with sand;
6. And I will bring it to ruin;
I will neither prune it, nor
work it;
it will be inundated with mildew and disease,
and I shall command the clouds
not to bring down the rains over it.
7. Because the vineyard of the Almighty Lord
is the abode among [the Children of] Israel
and the Men of Judea --
a new and beloved settlement,
despite the impeding judgment
and the imminent plunder,
and despite of holiness,
there shall be wailing.*
8. Woe to those who bring one house close to
another,
and mix one field with another,
who make up a country and sit alone in the
middle of the land;*
9. The Almighty Lord [shall bring it to their
attention,]
their ears shall hear it;
many houses will come to ruin,
and become the misfortune of their settlers.
10. Because ten acres of the vineyard shall
produce but one vintage,
and the seed that pales shall produce but one
batch.
11. Woe to those who rise in the morning and
run to the vineyard*
and stay until evening,
and the wine sets them on fire.
12. By the harps and the guitars,
by the tambourines and the flutes
they drink wine;
but by the works of God they are not edified
and by the works of his hands they are not
cognizant.
13. That is why my people are impervious
to the knowledge of my awareness,
and their dead shall increase from the hunger
and their heroes from the thirst.
14. That is why Sheol has expanded its soul
and split open its mouth that forbids none,
and there shall go down into it the glorious,
the respectful and the champions [as well.]
15. And the human being's pride shall be
softened
and the man's stature shall be subdued,
and their high gazing eyes shall be lowered.*
16. And the Almighty Lord through judgment
and the Holy God through righteousness
shall be hallowed.
17. And the rams shall gaze upon their bounty,
and they shall feed upon the ruins that the
residents built.
18. Woe to those who extend their sins like
long ropes,
like the reins of a fast chariot are their
sins;
19. And they say, "Quickly, let
the Lord hasten his works
so we may see them
and let the prayers of the holy one of Israel
come near
so we may know it.
20. And woe to those who call evil good and
good evil,
who regard light as darkness and darkness as
light,
who regard bitterness as sweet and sweetness as
bitter.
21. Woe to those who are wise in their own
sight,
but those standing before them they regard as
fools.*
22. Woe to the champions of wine drinking,
and the mighty men that mix the vintage,
23. And they give the victory to those
responsible
because of their contribution,
and the victory of the victors they make them
forfeit it.
24. Because of that, as the brush is consumed
by the flame of fire that licks at it --
they shall be consumed by the flames that
surround them,
and their root shall be like sand
and their pollen shall rise like dust --
because they denigrated the Law of the Almighty
Lord,
and they were angered
by the commandments of the holy one of Israel.
25. Because of that the Lord's anger grew
against his people,
and he raised his hand against them
and he struck them and the mountains shook,
and their flesh was like offal in the
marketplaces,
and after all this his anger did not subside,*
and again his hand arose.
26. He raised signs against the nations from
afar,
and he shall suck them from the edges* of the
earth;
quickly and lightly they shall come.
27. They shall neither be at odds,* nor ponder,
they shall neither doze, nor sleep,
they shall neither untie the belts on their
backs,
nor loosen the laces of their sandals.
28. Their arrows are tipped with steel and
sharp;*
their bows are drawn and bent,*
and the hoofs* of their horses are like flint
against the stone,
and their wheels are like the whirlwind.
29. And their roar is like that of the lion
when he roars,
and like the roar of the lioness when she
pounces* on a bull,
deadly* and without recourse.
30. And they shall roar against them on that
Day,
like the roaring of the sea,
and they shall gaze over the land,
and there shall be darkness and persecution,
and they shall be oppressed by their plight.
*5:5 Lit. Ar. id.: "Consumption."
*5:7 Reference to the road that leads to the Cross.
*5:8 Warning against the rise of nationalism.
*5:11 Lit. Ar. id.: "Acreage."
*5:15 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "And softened will be the human, and undone shall be the man, and the high eyes shall be softened."
*5:21 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "Woe to the wise in their eyes souls and before their faces fools."
*5:25 Lit. Ar. id.: "Returned."
*5:26 Lit. Ar. id.: "Lips."
*5:27 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "... they will not be whipped up."
*5:28.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Toothed."
*5:28.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Filled."
*5:28.3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Galloping."
*5:29.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Takes."
*5:29.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Routine."