For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted, and the ripening fruit appears, ¹  he will cut off the unproductive shoots ²  with pruning knives; he will prune the tendrils. ³ 

(Now the ¹  flax and the barley were struck ²  by the hail, ³  for the barley had ripened ⁴  and the flax ⁵  was in bud.

Don’t you say, ¹  ‘There are four more months and then comes the harvest?’ I tell you, look up ²  and see that the fields are already white ³  for harvest!