Here Isaiah, who had been silently listening to the discussions, offered
to recite a poem, an original composition. The suggestion was received
with loud applause and Isaiah began:

"Let me sing a song of my friend,
My friend's song about his vineyard."

At this introduction everybody settled down comfortably to listen,
and Isaiah continued:

"My friend hath a vineyard
On a fertile hill;
He digged it and gathered out the atones,
And planted it with choicest vine;
A tower he built in the midst of it
And hewed out a wine press.
He looked to find grapes that were good,
And it yielded only wild grapes."

Isaiah's listeners were disappointed. The story not only lacked
excitement, it even lacked interest. They shifted in their places
uneasily, but Isaiah caught their attention again by continuing:

"And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem,
And ye people of Judah.
Judge, I pray you, betwixt me
And betwixt my vineyard.
What more could be done to my vineyard
Than that which I have done?
When I looked to find grapes that were good