6, 7. (a) Who is the owner of the vineyard, and what is the vineyard? (b) What judgment does the owner invite?

⁶ Who is the owner, and what is the vineyard? The vineyard owner points to the answers to these questions when he himself speaks: “Now, O you inhabitants of Jerusalem and you men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. What is there yet to do for my vineyard that I have not already done in it? Why is it that I hoped for it to produce grapes, but it gradually produced wild grapes? And now, please, may I make known to you men what I am doing to my vineyard: There will be a removing of its hedge, and it must be destined for burning down. There must be a breaking down of its stone wall, and it must be destined for a place of trampling.”​—Isaiah 5:3-5.

9. How has Jehovah treated his nation like a valued vineyard?

⁹ Jehovah “planted” his nation in the land of Canaan and gave them his laws and regulations, which served as a wall to protect them from being corrupted by other nations. (Exodus 19:5, 6; Psalm 147:19, 20; Ephesians 2:14) Furthermore, Jehovah gave them judges, priests, and prophets to instruct them. (2 Kings 17:13; Malachi 2:7; Acts 13:20) When Israel was threatened by military aggression, Jehovah raised up deliverers. (Hebrews 11:32, 33) With reason, Jehovah asks: “What is there yet to do for my vineyard that I have not already done in it?”