American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
For of old time {Or, thou hast}I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds; and thou saidst, I will not {Another reading is, transgress.}serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.
Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine unto me?
For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord Jehovah.
How canst thou say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift {Or, young camel}dromedary traversing her ways;
a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.
Let me sing {Or, of}for my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved had a vineyard in {Hebrew: a horn, the son of oil.}a very fruitful hill:
and he digged it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a {Or, wine-vat}winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be {Or, burnt}eaten up; I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah {Hebrew: the plant of his delight.}his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, {Or, shedding of blood}oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry.
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,And of the fields of Gomorrah:Their grapes are grapes of gall,Their clusters are bitter:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So is the way of an adulterous woman;She eateth, and wipeth her mouth,And saith, I have done no wickedness.
And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded not, neither came it into my {Hebrew: heart.}mind.
And he shall be as a wild ass among men; his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell {Or, to the east of}over against all his brethren.
Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
For at the window of my houseI looked forth through my lattice;
And I beheld among the simple ones,I discerned among the youths,A young man void of understanding,
Passing through the street near her corner;And he went the way to her house,
In the twilight, in the evening of the day,In the {Hebrew: pupil (of the eye).}middle of the night and in the darkness.
And, behold, there met him a womanWith the attire of a harlot, and {Or, close Hebrew: guarded.}wily of heart.
(She is {Or, turbulent}clamorous and wilful;Her feet abide not in her house:
Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places,And lieth in wait at every corner.)
So she caught him, and kissed him, {Hebrew: She hardened her face, and said.}And with an impudent face she said unto him:
Sacrifices of peace-offerings {Or, were due from me}are with me;This day have I paid my vows.
Therefore came I forth to meet thee,Diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
I have spread my couch with {Or, cushion}carpets of tapestry,With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
I have {Or, sprinkled}perfumed my bedWith myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning;Let us solace ourselves with loves.
For the man is not at home;He is gone a long journey:
He hath taken a bag of money with him;He will come home at the full moon.
With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield;With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along.
He goeth after her {Hebrew: suddenly.}straightway,As an ox goeth to the slaughter,Or as one in {The Hebrew is obsure.}fetters to the correction of the fool;
Till an arrow strike through his liver;As a bird hasteth to the snare,And knoweth not that it is for his life.