Study Desk

"I am black but lovely,O daughters of Jerusalem,Like the tents of Kedar,Like the curtains of Solomon.

Do not look at me because I am swarthy,For the sun has burned me.My mother's sons were angry with me;They made me caretaker of the vineyards,But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

"On my bed night after night I sought himWhom my soul loves;I sought him but did not find him.

‘I must arise now and go about the city;In the streets and in the squaresI must seek him whom my soul loves.'I sought him but did not find him.

"I was asleep, but my heart was awake.A voice! My beloved was knocking:‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,My dove, my perfect one!For my head is full of dew,My locks with the damp of the night.'

I opened to my beloved,But my beloved had turned away and passed by!My soul went out to him as he spoke.I searched for him, but I did not find him;I called him, but he did not answer me.

I did not know it, but my soul set meAmong the chariots of my noble people."

If she is a wall,We will build on her a battlement of silver;But if she is a door,We will barricade her with planks of cedar."

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;For Yahweh speaks,"Sons I have reared and raised up,But they have transgressed against Me.

An ox knows its owner,And a donkey its master's manger,But Israel does not know;My people do not perceive."

But if you refuse and rebel,You will be eaten by the sword."For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

How the faithful city has become a harlot,She who was full of justice!Righteousness once lodged in her,But now murderers.

But transgressors and sinners will be broken together,And those who forsake Yahweh will come to an end.

So the common man has been bowed down,And the man of importance has been made low,But do not forgive them.

But the idols will completely vanish.

He dug it all around, removed its stones,And planted it with the choicest vine.And He built a tower in the middle of itAnd also hewed out a wine vat in it;Then He hoped for it to produce good grapes,But it produced only worthless ones.

I will lay it waste;It will not be pruned or hoed,But briars and thorns will come up.I will also command the clouds to rain no rain on it."

For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts is the house of IsraelAnd the men of Judah His delightful plant.Thus He hoped for justice, but behold, bloodshed;For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine,And a homer of seed will yield but an ephah of grain."

And their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine;But they do not look upon the deeds of Yahweh,Nor do they see the work of His hands.