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1 Now will I sing to my welbeloued, a song of my beloued touching his vineyard: my wellbeloued hath a vineyard in a very fruitfull hill.
2 And hee fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a towre in the middest of it, and also made a winepresse therein: and he looked that it should bring foorth grapes, and it brought foorth wilde grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Ierusalem, and men of Iudah, Iudge, I pray you, betwixt me and my Uineyard.
4 What could haue beene done more to my Uineyard, that I haue not done in it? wherefore when I looked that it should bring foorth grapes, brought it foorth wilde grapes?
5 And now goe to; I will tell you what I will doe to my Uineyard, I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten vp; and breake downe the wall thereof, and it shall be troden downe.
6 And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned, nor digged, but there shall come vp briars and thornes: I will also command the cloudes, that they raine no raine vpon it.
7 For the Uineyard of the Lord of hostes is the house of Israel, and the men of Iudah his pleasant plant: and he looked for iudgement, but beholde oppression; for righteousnesse, but behold a crie.
8 ¶ Woe vnto them that ioyne house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth.
9 In mine eares said the Lord of hostes, Of a trueth many houses shall be desolate, euen great and faire without inhabitant.
10 Yea ten acres of vineyard shall yeeld one Bath, and the seed of an Homer shall yeeld an Ephah.
11 ¶ Woe vnto them that rise vp earely in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, that continue vntill night, till wine enflame them.
12 And the harpe and the viole, the tabret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts: but they regard not the worke of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.
13 ¶ Therefore my people are gone into captiuitie, because they haue no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, aud their multitude dried vp with thirst.
14 Therefore hell hath enlarged her selfe, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pompe, and hee that reioyceth, shall descend into it.
15 And the meane man shall bee brought downe, and the mightie man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the loftie shall be humbled.
16 But the Lord of hosts shalbe exalted in iudgement, and God that is holy, shall bee sanctified in righteousnesse.
17 Then shall the lambes feed after their maner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eate.
18 Woe vnto them that draw iniquitie with cords of vanitie, and sinne, as it were with a cart rope:
19 That say, Let him make speede, and hasten his worke, that we may see it: and let the counsell of the holy one of Israel draw nigh and come, that wee may know it.
20 ¶ Woe vnto them that call euill good, and good euill, that put darkenes for light, and light for darkenesse, that put bitter for sweete, and sweete for bitter.
21 Woe vnto them that are wise in their owne eyes, and prudent in their owne sight.
22 Woe vnto them that are mightie to drinke wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drinke.
23 Which iustifie the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousnes of the righteous from him.
24 Therfore as the fire deuoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaffe, so their root shall be rottennes, and their blossome shall goe vp as dust: because they haue cast away the Lawe of the Lord of hosts, and despised the worde of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched foorth his hande against them, and hath smitten them: and the hilles did tremble, and their carkeises were torne in the midst of the streets: for all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
26 ¶ And he will lift vp an ensigne to the nations from farre, and wil hisse vnto them from the end of the earth: and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.
27 None shalbe weary, nor stumble amongst them: none shall slumber nor sleepe, neither shall the girdle of their loynes be loosed, nor the latchet of their shooes be broken.
28 Whose arrowes are sharpe, and all their bowes bent, their horses hoofs shall bee counted like flint, and their wheeles like a whirlewind.
29 Their roaring shalbe like a lyon, they shall roare like yong lions: yea they shal roare and lay hold of the pray, and shall carie it away safe, and none shall deliuer it.
30 And in that day they shall roare against them, like the roaring of the sea: and if one looke vnto the land, behold darkenesse and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heauens therof.
The state and conduct of the Jewish nation. (1-7) The judgments which would come. (8-23) The executioners of these judgments. (24-30)1-7 Christ is God's beloved Son, and our beloved Saviour. The care of the Lord over the church of Israel, is described by the management of a vineyard. The advantages of our situation will be brought into the account another day. He planted it with the choicest vines; gave them a most excellent law, instituted proper ordinances. The temple was a tower, where God gave tokens of his presence. He set up his altar, to which the sacrifices should be brought; all the means of grace are denoted thereby. God expects fruit from those that enjoy privileges. Good purposes and good beginnings are good things, but not enough; there must be vineyard fruit; thoughts and affections, words and actions, agreeable to the Spirit. It brought forth bad fruit. Wild grapes are the fruits of the corrupt nature. Where grace does not work, corruption will. But the wickedness of those that profess religion, and enjoy the means of grace, must be upon the sinners themselves. They shall no longer be a peculiar people. When errors and vice go without check or control, the vineyard is unpruned; then it will soon be grown over with thorns. This is often shown in the departure of God's Spirit from those who have long striven against him, and the removal of his gospel from places which have long been a reproach to it. The explanation is given. It is sad with a soul, when, instead of the grapes of humility, meekness, love, patience, and contempt of the world, for which God looks, there are the wild grapes of pride, passion, discontent, and malice, and contempt of God; instead of the grapes of praying and praising, the wild grapes of cursing and swearing. Let us bring forth fruit with patience, that in the end we may obtain everlasting life.
8-23 Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a field to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when they have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. How applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the most populous cities. Those who set their hearts upon the world, will justly be disappointed. Here is woe to those who dote upon the pleasures and the delights of sense. The use of music is lawful; but when it draws away the heart from God, then it becomes a sin to us. God's judgments have seized them, but they will not disturb themselves in their pleasures. The judgments are declared. Let a man be ever so high, death will bring him low; ever so mean, death will bring him lower. The fruit of these judgments shall be, that God will be glorified as a God of power. Also, as a God that is holy; he shall be owned and declared to be so, in the righteous punishment of proud men. Those are in a woful condition who set up sin, and who exert themselves to gratify their base lusts. They are daring in sin, and walk after their own lusts; it is in scorn that they call God the Holy One of Israel. They confound and overthrow distinctions between good and evil. They prefer their own reasonings to Divine revelations; their own devices to the counsels and commands of God. They deem it prudent and politic to continue profitable sins, and to neglect self-denying duties. Also, how light soever men make of drunkenness, it is a sin which lays open to the wrath and curse of God. Their judges perverted justice. Every sin needs some other to conceal it.
24-30 Let not any expect to live easily who live wickedly. Sin weakens the strength, the root of a people; it defaces the beauty, the blossoms of a people. When God's word is despised, and his law cast away, what can men expect but that God should utterly abandon them? When God comes forth in wrath, the hills tremble, fear seizes even great men. When God designs the ruin of a provoking people, he can find instruments to be employed in it, as he sent for the Chaldeans, and afterwards the Romans, to destroy the Jews. Those who would not hear the voice of God speaking by his prophets, shall hear the voice of their enemies roaring against them. Let the distressed look which way they will, all appears dismal. If God frowns upon us, how can any creature smile? Let us diligently seek the well-grounded assurance, that when all earthly helps and comforts shall fail, God himself will be the strength of our hearts, and our portion for ever.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.