The land of Judah will be inhabited by people who live in its towns as well as by farmers and shepherds with their flocks. ¹ 

They are dismayed because the ground is cracked ¹  because there has been no rain in the land. The farmers, too, are dismayed and bury their faces in their hands.

Be distressed, ¹  farmers; wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley. For the harvest of the field has perished.

But he ¹  left behind some of the poor of the land and gave them fields and vineyards.

But he ¹  left behind some of the poor ²  and gave them fields and vineyards.

He built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns, for he owned many herds in the lowlands ¹  and on the plain. He had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and in Carmel, ²  for he loved agriculture. ³ 

Because of Israel’s sins ¹  this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, ²  says: “In all the squares there will be wailing, in all the streets they will mourn the dead. ³  They will tell the field workers ⁴  to lament and the professional mourners ⁵  to wail.

I used you to smash shepherds and their flocks. I used you to smash farmers and their teams of oxen. I used you to smash governors and leaders.” ¹ 

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner ¹  who planted a vineyard. ²  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ³  he leased it to tenant farmers ⁴  and went on a journey.

Then ¹  he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. ²  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ³  he leased it to tenant farmers ⁴  and went on a journey.

Then ¹  he began to tell the people this parable: “A man ²  planted a vineyard, ³  leased it to tenant farmers, ⁴  and went on a journey for a long time.

Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

But ¹  those tenants ²  seized his slave, ³  beat him, ⁴  and sent him away empty-handed. ⁵ 

Now all the tax collectors ¹  and sinners were coming ²  to hear him.

The farmer who works hard ought to have the first share of the crops.

Kill all the farmers who sow the seed in the land of Babylon. Kill all those who wield the sickle at harvest time. ¹  Let all the foreigners return to their own people. Let them hurry back to their own lands to escape destruction by that enemy army. ² 

So be patient, brothers and sisters, ¹  until the Lord’s return. ²  Think of how the farmer waits ³  for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient ⁴  for it until it receives the early and late rains.

Ezri son of Kelub was in charge of the field workers who farmed the land. ¹ 

Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? ¹  Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?

¹ “Foreigners will take care of ²  your sheep; foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.