Isaiah 37:30

¹ “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: ²  This year you will eat what grows wild, ³  and next year ⁴  what grows on its own. But the year after that ⁵  you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ⁶ 

"This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: "This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

"Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Here is the proof that the LORD will protect this city from Assyria’s king. This year you will eat only what grows up by itself, and next year you will eat what springs up from that. But in the third year you will plant crops and harvest them; you will tend vineyards and eat their fruit.

"'And this, Hezekiah, will be your confirming sign: This year's crops will be slim pickings, and next year it won't be much better. But in three years, farming will be back to normal, with regular sowing and reaping, planting and harvesting.

And this will be the sign to you: you will get your food this year from what comes up of itself, and in the second year from the produce of the same; and in the third year you will put in your seed, and get in the grain, and make vine-gardens, and take of their fruit.

"And this shall be the sign for you: This year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that; then in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

"This shall be a sign to you: You shall eat this year such as grows of itself, And the second year what springs from the same; Also in the third year sow and reap, Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.

¹ “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: ²  This year you will eat what grows wild, ³  and next year ⁴  what grows on its own. But the year after that ⁵  you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ⁶ 

¹ tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).

² tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.

³ sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

⁴ tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).

⁵ tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).

⁶ tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.