My people will sow wheat, but will harvest weeds. ¹  They will work until they are exhausted, but will get nothing from it. They will be disappointed in their harvests ²  because the Lord will take them away in his fierce anger. ³ 

So then I, the Lord who rules over all, ¹  have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: ²  ‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. ³  For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason ⁴  that ungodliness ⁵  has spread throughout the land.’”

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 

He took one of the seedlings ¹  of the land, placed it in a cultivated plot; ²  a shoot by abundant water, like a willow he planted it.

“‘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.

I will prepare for them a healthy ¹  planting. They will no longer be victims ²  of famine in the land and will no longer bear the insults of the nations.

Then the nations which remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken – and I will do it!’

Then the people ¹  of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader, ²  and will flourish in the land. ³  Certainly, ⁴  the day of Jezreel will be great!

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap unfailing love. Break up the unplowed ground for yourselves, for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers deliverance ¹  on you.

People will reside again ¹  in his shade; they will plant and harvest grain in abundance. ²  They will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

I will make up for the years ¹  that the ‘arbeh-locust ²  consumed your crops ³  – the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust – my great army ⁴  that I sent against you.

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 

Look at the birds in the sky: ¹  They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds ²  them. Aren’t you more valuable ³  than they are?

It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, ¹  so that the wild birds ²  come and nest in its branches.” ³ 

Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed,

But his master answered, ¹  ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter?

“A sower went out to sow ¹  his seed. ²  And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds ³  devoured it.

“But woe to you Pharisees! ¹  You give a tenth ²  of your mint, ³  rue, ⁴  and every herb, yet you neglect justice ⁵  and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. ⁶ 

Consider the ravens: ¹  They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds ²  them. How much more valuable are you than the birds!

For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. ¹  So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.