Hosea 8:7
New International Version
“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.

New Living Translation
“They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. The stalks of grain wither and produce nothing to eat. And even if there is any grain, foreigners will eat it.

English Standard Version
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.

Berean Standard Bible
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.

King James Bible
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

New King James Version
“They sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, Aliens would swallow it up.

New American Standard Bible
For they sow wind And they harvest a storm. The standing grain has no kernels; It yields no grain. If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it.

NASB 1995
For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.

NASB 1977
For they sow the wind, And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.

Legacy Standard Bible
For they sow the wind, And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no growth; It makes no flour. Should it make anything, strangers would swallow it up.

Amplified Bible
For they sow the wind [in evil] And they reap the whirlwind [in disaster]. The standing grain has no growth; It yields no grain. If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it up.

Christian Standard Bible
Indeed, they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if they did, foreigners would swallow it up.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Indeed, they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if they did, foreigners would swallow it up.

American Standard Version
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: he hath no standing grain; the blade shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because they sowed wind and they have reaped a hurricane, and they do not have a stalk, neither an ear that makes meal, and if they had foreigners, they would have been eating it

Brenton Septuagint Translation
for they sowed blighted seed, and their destruction shall await them, a sheaf of corn that avails not to make meal; and even if it should produce it, strangers shall devour it.

Contemporary English Version
If you scatter wind instead of wheat, you will harvest a whirlwind and have no wheat. Even if you harvest grain, enemies will steal it all.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For they shall sow wind, and reap a whirlwind, there is no standing stalk in it, the bud shall yield no meal; end if it should yield, strangers shall eat it.

English Revised Version
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: he hath no standing corn; the blade shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"The people of Israel plant the wind, but they harvest a storm. A field of grain that doesn't ripen will never produce any grain. Even if it did produce grain, foreigners would eat it all.

Good News Translation
When they sow the wind, they will reap a storm! A field of grain that doesn't ripen can never produce any bread. But even if it did, foreigners would eat it up.

International Standard Version
"Because they sow the wind, they will reap the wind storm. The plant has no stalk and its bud yields no grain. Even if there's a harvest, foreigners will gobble it up.

JPS Tanakh 1917
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind; It hath no stalk, the bud that shall yield no meal; If so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.

Literal Standard Version
For wind they sow, and a windstorm they reap, | Stalk it has none—a shoot not yielding grain, | If so be it yield—strangers swallow it up.

Majority Standard Bible
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.

New American Bible
When they sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind; The stalk of grain that forms no head can yield no flour; Even if it could, strangers would swallow it.

NET Bible
They sow the wind, and so they will reap the whirlwind! The stalk does not have any standing grain; it will not produce any flour. Even if it were to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it all up.

New Revised Standard Version
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads, it shall yield no meal; if it were to yield, foreigners would devour it.

New Heart English Bible
For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.

Webster's Bible Translation
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if it shall yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

World English Bible
For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.

Young's Literal Translation
For wind they sow, and a hurricane they reap, Stalk it hath none -- a shoot not yielding grain, If so be it yield -- strangers do swallow it up.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Israel will Reap the Whirlwind
6For this thing is from Israel—a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria. 7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up. 8Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel.…

Cross References
Galatians 6:8
The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Proverbs 22:8
He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

Isaiah 17:11
though on the day you plant you make them grow, and on that morning you help your seed sprout--yet the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.

Isaiah 55:2
Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

Isaiah 66:15
For behold, the LORD will come with fire--His chariots are like a whirlwind--to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.

Lamentations 5:2
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.

Hosea 2:9
Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.


Treasury of Scripture

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it has no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

sown.

Hosea 10:12
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Job 4:8
Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

Proverbs 22:8
He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

it hath.

Isaiah 17:11
In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

Jeremiah 12:13
They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

stalk.

Hosea 7:9
Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

Deuteronomy 28:33
The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:

Judges 6:3-6
And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; …

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Aliens Blade Bud Devour Flour Foreigners Fruit Grain Head Heads Hurricane Meal Nation Planting Produce Reap Shoot Sow Sown Sprout Stalk Standing Stem Storm Strange Strangers Swallow Whirlwind Wind Yield Yielding Yields
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Aliens Blade Bud Devour Flour Foreigners Fruit Grain Head Heads Hurricane Meal Nation Planting Produce Reap Shoot Sow Sown Sprout Stalk Standing Stem Storm Strange Strangers Swallow Whirlwind Wind Yield Yielding Yields
Hosea 8
1. Destruction is threatened both to Israel and Judah for their impiety and idolatry.














(7) Wind . . . whirlwind.--The great law of Divine retribution, the punishment for sin being often a greater facility in sinning--indifference to God becoming enmity, forgetfulness of duty or truth becoming violent recoil from both. "Wind" expresses what is empty and fruitless, and the pronoun "it" refers, in accordance with the metaphor, to such unproductive seed.

It hath no stalk.--Not even incipient prosperity, as in the days of Jeroboam II. "The growth shall yield no grain," as we might express the play of words in the Hebrew.

Verse 7. - For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The harvest corresponds to the seed-time; their foolish and vain idolatries shall have corresponding results. This proverbial expression imports more than merely labor in vain; it denotes labor that has an injurious and destructive result. It has more than a negative significancy of lost labor; it conveys the idea of positive detriment. "The prophet," says Kimchi, "means to say that they will weary themselves in vain in this service (of idols), just as if a man who sows the wind, in which there is nothing substantial, shall only reap the wind, or even still less; as if he had said, ' Ye shall not obtain the least enjoyment, but only injury.'" If, then, the wind denote the vanity and nothingness of human effort, the whirlwind is the image of destruction and annihilation, viz. a storm or hurricane remorselessly tearing all away with it. Suphah itself intensifies the notion included in ruach, while the paragogic ה intensifies still more, so as to denote a storm of greatest violence. The double feminine ending is regarded by most as strengthening the sense in this word suphathah, עֶזְרָתָה אֵימָהָה, etc. It hath no stalk (margin, standing corn): the bud shall yield no meal; better, shoot brings no fruit. This is a further development of the figure. When wind is the seed sown, destruction represented by tempest is the harvest reaped. The seed sown produces no stalk, or at least no stall = with grain in it - no standing corn. If the seed shoot up at all, the shoot has no fruit. Here the play on words, of which the Hebrews were so fond, is obvious - the tse-roach has no yemach; the halm has no maim; the Spross no Schoss; the corn no kern. If so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. When, or if, any fruit is attained, the invasion of rapacious foreigners swallows it up. First, then, when the wind of vain human efforts is the sowing, destruction is the harvest. If the seed spring up at all, the ear does not fill; or if the ear should fill, there is no substance in it; or if it fill and have substance, the rapacity of hostile invaders consumes it. Thus a blight falls on all they do. Kimchi explains the verse fully as follows: "Because the prophet compares their works to one who sows the wind, he adds further to the same image, and says, 'It has no stalk, it reaches not the time when it shall be stalk' (or 'standing corn'). Now קמה is the name of the corn when it stands ready for the harvest, from which the husbandmen (literally, 'sowers') soon expect enjoyment, i.e. after harvest, when they shall make it into meal. Yea, even at the time they expect profit from their works, they shall have none. And he says further, 'The shoot shall not produce fruit or meal,' as if he said, ' Even should the seed spring up after the sowing.' He thus represents in a figure that should they prosper a little in their works after they have begun to do evil, yet that prosperity will not last, and it will not come to perfect enjoyment (beauty) like corn which comes to harvest and to grinding. And if it should yield, strangers devour it. Perhaps for a time it may produce so as to come to meal, as if he said that, should they prosper in their possessions so that a little enjoyment should be accorded to them at the first, then strangers shall come and devour it, and their enjoyment will not be complete."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Indeed,
כִּ֛י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

they sow
יִזְרָ֖עוּ (yiz·rā·‘ū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 2232: To sow, to disseminate, plant, fructify

the wind
ר֥וּחַ (rū·aḥ)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

and reap
יִקְצֹ֑רוּ (yiq·ṣō·rū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7114: To dock off, curtail, to harvest

the whirlwind.
וְסוּפָ֣תָה (wə·sū·p̄ā·ṯāh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 5492: A storm wind

There is no
אֵֽין־ (’ên-)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

standing grain;
קָמָ֣ה (qā·māh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 7054: Something that rises, a stalk of grain

what sprouts
צֶ֚מַח (ṣe·maḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6780: A sprout, growth

fails
בְּלִ֣י (bə·lî)
Adverb
Strong's 1097: Failure, nothing, destruction, without, not yet, because not, as long as

to yield
יַֽעֲשֶׂה־ (ya·‘ă·śeh-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

flour.
קֶּ֔מַח (qe·maḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7058: Flour, meal

Even if
אוּלַ֣י (’ū·lay)
Adverb
Strong's 194: Perhaps

it should produce,
יַֽעֲשֶׂ֔ה (ya·‘ă·śeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

the foreigners
זָרִ֖ים (zā·rîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 2114: To turn aside, to be a, foreigner, strange, profane, to commit adultery

would swallow it up.
יִבְלָעֻֽהוּ׃ (yiḇ·lā·‘u·hū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1104: To swallow down, swallow up, engulf


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OT Prophets: Hosea 8:7 For they sow the wind and they (Ho Hs Hos.)
Hosea 8:6
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