I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, ¹  and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it.

I am not angry. I wish I could confront some thorns and briers! Then I would march against them ¹  for battle; I would set them ²  all on fire,

Mourn ¹  over the land of my people, which is overgrown with thorns and briers, and over all the once-happy houses ²  in the city filled with revelry. ³ 

Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes, firs will grow in place of nettles; they will be a monument to the Lord, ¹  a permanent reminder that will remain. ² 

Many foreign rulers ¹  will ruin the land where I planted my people. ²  They will trample all over my chosen land. ³  They will turn my beautiful land into a desolate wasteland.

“‘No longer will Israel suffer from the sharp briers ¹  or painful thorns of all who surround and scorn them. ²  Then they will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

Therefore, I will soon ¹  fence her in ²  with thorns; I will wall her in ³  so that ⁴  she cannot find her way. ⁵ 

The best of them is like a thorn; the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. ¹  The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, ²  and then you will experience confusion. ³ 

But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weeds ¹  among the wheat and went away.

So the slaves ¹  of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’

He said, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So ¹  the slaves replied, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them?’

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers. ¹ 

Other seed fell among the thorns, ¹  and they grew up and choked it, ²  and it did not produce grain.

For the music director; according to the machalath style; ²  a well-written song ³  by David. Fools say to themselves, ⁴  “There is no God.” ⁵  They sin and commit evil deeds; ⁶  none of them does what is right. ⁷ 

But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words – even though briers ¹  and thorns ²  surround you and you live among scorpions – do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, ³  for they are a rebellious house!

‘Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.’ Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful ¹  land a waste.”

Let both grow together until the harvest. At ¹  harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, but then ²  gather ³  the wheat into my barn.”’”

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up ¹  and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled.