Isaiah 5:6

5:6 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.

Isaiah 30:23

30:23 He will water the seed you plant in the ground,

and the ground will produce crops in abundance. ² 

At that time ³  your cattle will graze in wide pastures.

Isaiah 61:11

61:11 For just as the ground produces its crops

and a garden yields its produce,

so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance ⁴  to grow,

and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 32:2

32:2 My teaching will drop like the rain,

my sayings will drip like the dew, ⁶ 

as rain drops upon the grass,

and showers upon new growth.

Deuteronomy 32:1

Invocation of Witnesses

32:1 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;

hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Deuteronomy 23:4

23:4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired ⁷  Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you.

Psalms 65:9-13

65:9 You visit the earth and give it rain; ⁸ 

you make it rich and fertile ⁹ 

with overflowing streams full of water. ¹⁰ 

You provide grain for them, ¹¹ 

for you prepare the earth to yield its crops. ¹² 

65:10 You saturate ¹³  its furrows,

and soak ¹⁴  its plowed ground. ¹⁵ 

With rain showers you soften its soil, ¹⁶ 

and make its crops grow. ¹⁷ 

65:11 You crown the year with your good blessings, ¹⁸ 

and you leave abundance in your wake. ¹⁹ 

65:12 The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture, ²⁰ 

and the hills are clothed with joy. ²¹ 

65:13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,

and the valleys are covered with grain.

They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.

Psalms 72:6-7

72:6 He ²²  will descend like rain on the mown grass, ²³ 

like showers that drench ²⁴  the earth. ²⁵ 

72:7 During his days the godly will flourish; ²⁶ 

peace will prevail as long as the moon remains in the sky. ²⁷ 

Ezekiel 34:26

34:26 I will turn them and the regions around my hill into a blessing. I will make showers come down in their season; they will be showers that bring blessing. ²⁸ 

Hosea 10:12

10:12 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 ²⁹  on you.

Revelation 11:6

11:6 These two have the power ³⁰  to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the time ³¹  they are prophesying. They ³²  have power ³³  to turn the waters to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague whenever they want.

[5:6]  ¹ tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.

[30:23]  ² tn Heb “and he will give rain for your seed which you plant in the ground, and food [will be] the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and abundant.”

[30:23]  ³ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[61:11]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps, “righteousness,” but the context seems to emphasize deliverance and restoration (see v. 10 and 62:1).

[61:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “and praise before all the nations.”

[32:2]  ⁶ tn Or “mist,” “light drizzle.” In some contexts the term appears to refer to light rain, rather than dew.

[23:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “hired against you.”

[65:9]  ⁸ tn The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”

[65:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “you greatly enrich it.”

[65:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).

[65:9]  ¹¹ tn The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.

[65:9]  ¹² tn Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.

[65:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “saturating” [the form is an infinitive absolute].

[65:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “flatten, cause to sink.”

[65:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “trenches,” or “furrows.”

[65:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “soften it,” that is, the earth.

[65:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “its vegetation you bless.” Divine “blessing” often involves endowing an object with special power or capacity.

[65:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your good,” which refers here to agricultural blessings.

[65:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and your paths drip with abundance.”

[65:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “drip.”

[65:12]  ²¹ tn That is, with rich vegetation that brings joy to those who see it.

[72:6]  ²² tn That is, the king (see vv. 2, 4).

[72:6]  ²³ tn The rare term zg refers to a sheep’s fleece in Deut 18:4 and Job 31:20, but to “mown” grass or crops here and in Amos 7:1.

[72:6]  ²⁴ tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to be an otherwise unattested noun. Many prefer to emend the form to a verb from the root זָרַף (zaraf). BHS in textual note b on this verse suggests a Hiphil imperfect, third masculine plural יַזְרִיפוּ (yazrifu), while HALOT 283 s.v. *זרף prefers a Pilpel perfect, third masculine plural זִרְזְפוּ (zirzÿfu). The translation assumes the latter.

[72:6]  ²⁵ sn The imagery of this verse compares the blessings produced by the king’s reign to fructifying rains that cause the crops to grow.

[72:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “sprout up,” like crops. This verse continues the metaphor of rain utilized in v. 6.

[72:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and [there will be an] abundance of peace until there is no more moon.”

[34:26]  ²⁸ tn Heb “showers of blessing.” Abundant rain, which in turn produces fruit and crops (v. 27), is a covenantal blessing for obedience (Lev 26:4).

[10:12]  ²⁹ tn Or “righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “justice.”

[11:6]  ³⁰ tn Or “authority.”

[11:6]  ³¹ tn Grk “the days.”

[11:6]  ³² tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:6]  ³³ tn Or “authority.”