And He dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a watchtower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it. And He waited for the yielding of grapes, but it yielded rotten ones.
to appoint unto those who mourn in Tsiyon: to give them embellishment for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. And they shall be called trees of righteousness, a planting of יהוה, to be adorned.
Therefore thus said יהוה, “See, I am bringing evil on them which they are unable to escape. Then they shall cry out to Me, but I shall not listen to them.
“But My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to what is false, and they have stumbled from their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths and not on a highway,
‘And I shall set My eyes on them for good, and shall bring them back to this land. And I shall build them and not pull them down, and shall plant them and not pluck them up.
“And now, make good your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, then יהוה shall relent concerning the evil He has pronounced against you.
“And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they burned incense to Baʽ
“It could be that they present their supplication before יהוה, and they turn back, each one from his evil way. For great is the displeasure and the wrath that יהוה has spoken against this people.”
“And יהוה has brought it on, and has done, as He has said. Because you have sinned against יהוה, and did not obey His voice, therefore this matter has come upon you.
‘If you would indeed stay in this land, then I shall build you and not pull you down, and I shall plant you and not pluck you up. For I have relented of the evil I have done to you.
by provoking Me with the works of your hands, by burning incense to other mighty ones in the land of Mitsrayim where you have gone to dwell, to cut yourselves off and be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
“The children are gathering wood, the fathers are lighting the fire, and the women are kneading their dough, to make cakes for the sovereigness of the heavens, and to pour out drink offerings to other mighty ones, to provoke Me.