Ezekiel 15:2

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.

Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.

mountains and all hills; fruit trees and all cedars;

Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!

For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills will break out before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands.

“Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “ ‘Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’

Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they became for him altars for sinning.

You will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell in; the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established.

Let heaven and earth praise him; the seas, and everything that moves therein!

God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.

You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and planted it.

He dug it up, gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in the middle of it, and also cut out a wine press in it. He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?

Sing, heavens, and be joyful, earth! Break out into singing, mountains, for Yahweh has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.

For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

He said to me, “Daniel, you greatly beloved man, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright; for I have been sent to you, now.” When he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling.

For there is no good tree that produces rotten fruit; nor again a rotten tree that produces good fruit.

He burned Yahweh’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire.

You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, but you spread them abroad.

Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits, henna with spikenard plants,

In that day, sing to her, “A pleasant vineyard!

I bring my righteousness near. It is not far off, and my salvation will not wait. I will grant salvation to Zion, my glory to Israel.

He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

For Yahweh of Armies, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to themselves in provoking me to anger by offering incense to Baal.

For Yahweh says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited.

Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, will sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers will come to her from the north,” says Yahweh.

He burned Yahweh’s house, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire.

For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate. The foxes walk on it.

They have made your oars of the oaks of Bashan. They have made your benches of ivory inlaid in cypress wood from the islands of Kittim.

Israel is a luxuriant vine that produces his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.

If Gilead is wicked, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.

He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, “Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.

“ ‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up a carved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am Yahweh your God.

For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter.

then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

They sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, “For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel.” All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of Yahweh’s house had been laid.

The pastures are covered with flocks. The valleys also are clothed with grain. They shout for joy! They also sing.

Let the field and all that is in it exult! Then all the trees of the woods shall sing for joy

and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards.

I have compared you, my love, to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.

My beloved spoke, and said to me, “Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.

For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness. The calf will feed there, and there he will lie down, and consume its branches.

Break out into joy! Sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.

“But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.

“Therefore Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.’ ”

The Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

“Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, and on all the cities of Judah. Behold, today they are a desolation, and no man dwells in them,

He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”

He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me.

“You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem.

“You, son of man, take a sharp sword. You shall take it as a barber’s razor to yourself, and shall cause it to pass over your head and over your beard. Then take balances to weigh and divide the hair.

Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field, like places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down its stones into the valley, and I will uncover its foundations.

But he answered them, “You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”

So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission.

But rise up and enter into the city, then you will be told what you must do.”

But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you;

Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. Amen.

Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.

looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it,

“I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can’t tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false.

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.

Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.

The boar out of the wood ravages it. The wild animals of the field feed on it.

Praise Yahweh from the earth, you great sea creatures, and all depths;

I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved.

For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and he will cut down and take away the spreading branches.

Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified.

For as the earth produces its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up, so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a pure and faithful seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?

He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.”

Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

“ ‘ “But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot out your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.

Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven’t produced. From today I will bless you.’ ”

After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return now and visit our brothers in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.”

Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Again, “I will put my trust in him.” Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.”

“Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”

The fig tree ripens her green figs. The vines are in blossom. They give out their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.”

Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.

I went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower.

Let’s go early up to the vineyards. Let’s see whether the vine has budded, its blossom is open, and the pomegranates are in flower. There I will give you my love.

Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.

Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.

Wail, cypress tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the stately ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.