1 Now I will sing a song for my friend, my love song about his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug and cleared the field and planted the best grapevines there. He built a tower in the middle and cut a winepress into the stone. He expected good grapes to grow there, but there were only rotten ones.
3 My friend said, “You people living in Jerusalem and you people of Judah, think about me and my vineyard.
4 What more could I do for my vineyard? I did everything I could. I hoped for good grapes to grow, but there were only rotten ones. Why did that happen?
5 “Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will pull up the thornbushes that protect it, and I will burn them. I will break down the stone wall and use the stones for a walkway.
6 I will turn my vineyard into useless land. No one will care for the plants or work in the field. Weeds and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”