Then God said, &#8220;I now<n id="1" /> give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.<n id="2" />

The land produced vegetation &#8211; plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.

<p class="bodytext">Joseph said to the people, &#8220;Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate<n id="1" /> the land.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;You are also to observe<n id="1" /> the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year<n id="2" /> when you have gathered in<n id="3" /> your harvest<n id="4" /> out of the field.

&#8220;Tell the Israelites, &#8216;When a woman produces offspring<n id="1" /> and bears a male child,<n id="2" /> she will be unclean seven days, as she is unclean during the days of her menstruation.<n id="3" />

You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed,<n id="1" /> you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear<n id="2" /> a garment made of two different kinds of fabric.<n id="3" />p>

but in the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath of complete rest<n id="1" /> &#8211; a Sabbath to the <sc>Lordsc>. You must not sow your field or<n id="2" /> prune your vineyard.

That fiftieth year will be your jubilee; you must not sow the land, harvest its aftergrowth, or pick the grapes of its unpruned vines.<n id="1" />

If you say, &#8216;What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow and gather our produce?&#8217;

and you may sow the eighth year and eat from that sixth year&#8217;s produce<n id="1" /> &#8211; old produce. Until you bring in the ninth year&#8217;s produce,<n id="2" /> you may eat old produce.

<n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth:<n id="2" /> This year you will eat what grows wild,<n id="3" /> and next year<n id="4" /> what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce.<n id="5" />

<p class="poetry">For you ignore<n id="1" /> the God who rescues you;p> <p class="poetry">you pay no attention to your strong protector.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">So this is what happens:p> <p class="poetry">You cultivate beautiful plantsp> <p class="poetry">and plant exotic vines.<n id="3" />p>

<n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth:<n id="2" /> This year you will eat what grows wild,<n id="3" /> and next year<n id="4" /> what grows on its own. But the year after that<n id="5" /> you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce.<n id="6" />

<p class="poetry">Indeed, they are barely planted;p> <p class="poetry">yes, they are barely sown;p> <p class="poetry">yes, they barely take root in the earth,p> <p class="poetry">and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,p> <p class="poetry">and the wind carries them away like straw.p>

<p class="poetry">Yes,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> has this to sayp> <p class="poetry">to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground,p> <p class="poetry">you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning;p> <p class="poetry">just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted,p> <p class="poetry">you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;Indeed, a time is coming,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="2" /> &#8220;when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">Kill all the farmers who sow the seed in the land of Babylon.p> <p class="poetry">Kill all those who wield the sickle at harvest time.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let all the foreigners return to their own people.p> <p class="poetry">Let them hurry back to their own landsp> <p class="poetry">to escape destruction by that enemy army.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Then I will plant her as my own<n id="1" /> in the land.p> <p class="poetry">I will have pity on &#8216;No Pity&#8217; (Lo-Ruhamah).p> <p class="poetry">I will say to &#8216;Not My People&#8217; (Lo-Ammi), &#8216;You are my people!&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">And he<n id="2" /> will say, &#8216;You are<n id="3" /> my God!&#8217;&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">They sow the wind,p> <p class="poetry">and so they will reap the whirlwind!p> <p class="poetry">The stalk does not have any standing grain;p> <p class="poetry">it will not produce any flour.p> <p class="poetry">Even if it were to yield grain,p> <p class="poetry">foreigners would swallow it all up.p>

<p class="poetry">Sow righteousness for yourselves,p> <p class="poetry">reap unfailing love.p> <p class="poetry">Break up the unplowed ground for yourselves,p> <p class="poetry">for it is time to seek the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">until he comes and showers deliverance<n id="1" /> on you.p>