Isaiah 65:21-22

65:21 They will build houses and live in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, ¹ 

or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, ² 

for my people will live as long as trees, ³ 

and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 29:5-6

29:5 ‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. 29:6 Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and allow your daughters get married so that they too can have sons and daughters. Grow in number; do not dwindle away.

Jeremiah 29:28

29:28 For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us, ⁵  “You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.”’” ⁶ 

Jeremiah 31:4-5

31:4 I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, ⁷ 

so that you will once again be built up.

Once again you will take up the tambourine

and join in the happy throng of dancers. ⁸ 

31:5 Once again you will plant vineyards

on the hills of Samaria. ⁹ 

Those who plant them

will once again enjoy their fruit. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 32:15

32:15 For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹¹  says, “Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’ ¹² 

Amos 9:13-14

9:13 “Be sure of this, ¹³  the time is ¹⁴  coming,” says the Lord,

“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper ¹⁵ 

and the one who stomps the grapes ¹⁶  will overtake ¹⁷  the planter. ¹⁸ 

Juice will run down the slopes, ¹⁹ 

it will flow down all the hillsides. ²⁰ 

9:14 I will bring back my people, Israel; ²¹ 

they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble ²²  and settle down. ²³ 

They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; ²⁴ 

they will grow orchards ²⁵  and eat the fruit they produce. ²⁶ 

[65:22]  ¹ tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”

[65:22]  ² tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”

[65:22]  ³ tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”

[65:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”

[29:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying….” The quote, however, is part of the earlier letter.

[29:28]  ⁶ sn See v. 5.

[31:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “Virgin Israel.”

[31:4]  ⁸ sn Contrast Jer 7:34 and 25:10.

[31:5]  ⁹ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[31:5]  ¹⁰ sn The terms used here refer to the enjoyment of a period of peace and stability and the reversal of the curse (contrast, e.g., Deut 28:30). The Hebrew word translated “enjoy its fruit” is a technical one that refers to the owner of a vineyard getting to enjoy its fruit in the fifth year after it was planted, the crops of the first three years lying fallow, and that of the fourth being given to the Lord (cf. Lev 19:23-25).

[32:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” For this title see 7:3 and the study notes on 2:19.

[32:15]  ¹² sn The significance of the symbolic act performed by Jeremiah as explained here was a further promise (see the “again” statements in 31:4, 5, 23 and the “no longer” statements in 31:12, 29, 34, 40) of future restoration beyond the destruction implied in vv. 3-5. After the interruption of exile, normal life of buying and selling of fields, etc. would again be resumed and former property rights would be recognized.

[9:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[9:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the days are.”

[9:13]  ¹⁵ sn The plowman will catch up to the reaper. Plowing occurred in October-November, and harvesting in April-May (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109.) But in the future age of restored divine blessing, there will be so many crops the reapers will take all summer to harvest them, and it will be time for plowing again before the harvest is finished.

[9:13]  ¹⁶ sn When the grapes had been harvested, they were placed in a press where workers would stomp on them with their feet and squeeze out the juice. For a discussion of grape harvesting technique, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-12.

[9:13]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[9:13]  ¹⁸ sn The grape harvest occurred in August-September, planting in November-December (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109). But in the future age described here there will be so many grapes the workers who stomp them will still be working when the next planting season arrives.

[9:13]  ¹⁹ tn Or “hills,” where the vineyards were planted.

[9:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and all the hills will melt.”

[9:14]  ²¹ tn This line can also be translated “I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel” and is a common idiom (e.g., Deut 30:3; Jer 30:3; Hos 6:11; Zeph 3:20). This rendering is followed by several modern English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, NJPS).

[9:14]  ²² tn Or “the ruined [or “desolate”] cities.”

[9:14]  ²³ tn Or “and live [in them].”

[9:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “drink their wine.”

[9:14]  ²⁵ tn Or “gardens.”

[9:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “eat their fruit.”