₁Listen while I sing you this song,

a song of my friend and his vineyard:

My friend had a vineyard

on a very fertile hill.

₂He dug the soil and cleared it of stones;

he planted the finest vines.

He built a tower to guard them,

dug a pit for treading the grapes.

He waited for the grapes to ripen,

but every grape was sour.

₇Israel is the vineyard of the LORD Almighty;

the people of Judah are the vines he planted.

He expected them to do what was good,

but instead they committed murder.

He expected them to do what was right,

but their victims cried out for justice.

₁Listen to us, O Shepherd of Israel;

hear us, leader of your flock.

Seated on your throne above the winged creatures,

₂reveal yourself to the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.

Show us your strength;

come and save us!

₈You brought a grapevine out of Egypt;

you drove out other nations and planted it in their land.

₉You cleared a place for it to grow;

its roots went deep, and it spread out over the whole land.

₁₀It covered the hills with its shade;

its branches overshadowed the giant cedars.

₁₁It extended its branches to the Mediterranean Sea

and as far as the River Euphrates.

₁₂Why did you break down the fences round it?

Now anyone passing by can steal its grapes;

₁₃wild pigs trample it down,

and wild animals feed on it.

₁₄Turn to us, Almighty God!

Look down from heaven at us;

come and save your people!

₁₅Come and save this grapevine that you planted,

this young vine you made grow so strong!

₁₆Our enemies have set it on fire and cut it down;

look at them in anger and destroy them!

₁₇Preserve and protect the people you have chosen,

the nation you made so strong.

₁₈We will never turn away from you again;

keep us alive, and we will praise you.

₁₉Bring us back, LORD God Almighty.

Show us your mercy, and we will be saved.