Beautiful words fill my mind\par as I write these things for the king.\par Words come from my tongue like\par words coming from a skilled writer’s pen.\par
\{In the past, you treated us like\par a very important plant.\}\par You brought your “vine” out of Egypt.\par You forced other people to leave this land,\par and you planted your “vine” here.\par
Many shepherds (leaders) have ruined\par my field of grapes.\par Those shepherds have walked\par on the plants in my field.\par Those shepherds have made my beautiful field\par into an empty desert.\par
Israel is like a vine that grows plenty of fruit.\par But as Israel got more and more \{things\}\par he built more and more altars\par \{to honor false gods\}.\par His land became better and better,\par so he put up better and better stones\par \{to honor false gods\}.\par
“Listen to this story: There was a man that owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a wine press. {\cf2\super [299]} Then the man built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers. Then he left for a trip.
Jesus used stories to teach the people. Jesus said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a wine press. {\cf2\super [152]} Then the man built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers. Then he left for a trip.