Deuteronomy 28:39
New International Version
You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

New Living Translation
You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you will not drink the wine or eat the grapes, for worms will destroy the vines.

English Standard Version
You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them.

Berean Standard Bible
You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

King James Bible
Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

New King James Version
You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

New American Standard Bible
You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor bring in the harvest, because the worm will eat it.

NASB 1995
“You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them.

NASB 1977
“You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall devour them.

Legacy Standard Bible
You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them.

Amplified Bible
You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because the worm will eat them.

Christian Standard Bible
You will plant and cultivate vineyards but not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You will plant and cultivate vineyards but not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

American Standard Version
Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them.

Contemporary English Version
You will plant vineyards and work hard at taking care of them, but you won't gather any grapes, much less get any wine, because the vines themselves will be eaten by worms.

English Revised Version
Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you won't drink any wine or gather any grapes, because worms will eat them.

Good News Translation
You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines.

International Standard Version
You'll plant a vineyard, but you won't drink wine or harvest any grapes, because worms will consume it.

Majority Standard Bible
You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

NET Bible
You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them.

New Heart English Bible
You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor harvest; for the worm shall eat them.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes: for the worm shall eat them.

World English Bible
You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
you plant vineyards and have labored, but you do not drink wine, nor gather [grapes], for the worm consumes it;

Young's Literal Translation
vineyards thou dost plant, and hast laboured, and wine thou dost not drink nor gather, for the worm doth consume it;

Smith's Literal Translation
Thou shalt plant vineyards and thou shalt work; and thou shalt not drink the wine, and thou shalt not gather, for the worm shall eat it.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dig it, and shalt not drink the wine, nor gather any thing thereof: because it shall be wasted with worms.

Catholic Public Domain Version
You will dig and plant a vineyard, but you will not drink the wine, nor gather anything at all from it. For it will be devastated by worms.

New American Bible
Though you plant and cultivate vineyards, you will not drink or store up the wine, for the worms will eat them.

New Revised Standard Version
You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
You shall plant a vineyard and dress it, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, because the worms shall eat it.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
You will plant a vineyard and you will cultivate and you will not drink wine, and you will not gather because a worm eats it.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dress it, and shalt not drink the wine, neither shalt thou delight thyself with it, because the worm shall devour it.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Curses of Disobedience
38You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it. 39You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.…

Cross References
Isaiah 5:10
For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”

Micah 6:15
You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.

Amos 5:11
Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.

Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”

Jeremiah 12:13
They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

Leviticus 26:20
and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.

Job 31:8
then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.

Psalm 107:34
and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.

Isaiah 17:10-11
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines— / 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.

Hosea 9:2
The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them, and the new wine will fail them.

Joel 1:10-12
The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails. / Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. / The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple—all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

Matthew 21:33-41
Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey. / When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. / But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ...

Mark 12:1-9
Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey. / At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. / But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ...

Luke 20:9-16
Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time. / At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. / So he sent another servant, but they beat him and treated him shamefully, sending him away empty-handed. ...

John 15:1-6
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. / He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. / You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ...


Treasury of Scripture

You shall plant vineyards, and dress them, but shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

for the worms

Joel 1:4-7
That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten…

Joel 2:2-4
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations…

Jonah 4:7
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

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Deuteronomy 28
1. The blessings for obedience
15. The curses for disobedience














You will plant and cultivate vineyards
This phrase speaks to the effort and labor invested by the Israelites. The Hebrew root for "plant" is "nata," which implies a deliberate and hopeful action of establishing something that is expected to grow and yield fruit. "Cultivate" comes from the Hebrew "abad," meaning to serve or work. Historically, vineyards were a symbol of prosperity and blessing in ancient Israel, representing not only economic wealth but also spiritual abundance. The act of planting and cultivating suggests diligence and expectation of a fruitful harvest, a common agrarian practice in the ancient Near East.

but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes
This part of the verse highlights the futility of the Israelites' labor due to disobedience. The Hebrew word for "drink" is "shatah," which signifies enjoyment and satisfaction. "Gather" comes from "acaph," meaning to collect or harvest. In the context of Deuteronomy 28, this is part of the curses for disobedience, contrasting the blessings of obedience found earlier in the chapter. The inability to enjoy the fruits of one's labor serves as a poignant reminder of the consequences of turning away from God's commandments.

because worms will eat them
The term "worms" in Hebrew is "towla," which can refer to a worm or maggot, often associated with decay and destruction. This imagery is powerful, as it conveys the idea of something small and seemingly insignificant causing great loss. In the agrarian society of ancient Israel, pests and plagues were a constant threat to crops, and their presence was often seen as a sign of divine displeasure. The consumption of the grapes by worms symbolizes the complete reversal of expected blessings, turning abundance into barrenness due to the people's failure to adhere to God's covenant.

Verse 39. - Worms; probably the vine weevil, the convolvulus or involvulus of the Latin writers (Pliny, 'Nat. Hist.,' 17:47; Care, ' De Re Rust.,' c. 95; Plaut., 'Cistell.,' 4:2), the ἴξ er ἴψ of the Greeks (Bochart, 'Hieroz.,' pt. it. bk. 4. e. 27).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You will plant
תִּטַּ֖ע (tiṭ·ṭa‘)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5193: To strike in, fix, to plant

and cultivate
וְעָבָ֑דְתָּ (wə·‘ā·ḇā·ḏə·tā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

vineyards,
כְּרָמִ֥ים (kə·rā·mîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3754: A garden, vineyard

but will neither
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

drink
תִשְׁתֶּה֙ (ṯiš·teh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 8354: To imbibe

the wine
וְיַ֤יִן (wə·ya·yin)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3196: Wine, intoxication

nor
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

gather [the grapes],
תֶאֱגֹ֔ר (ṯe·’ĕ·ḡōr)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 103: To harvest

because
כִּ֥י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

worms
הַתֹּלָֽעַת׃ (hat·tō·lā·‘aṯ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8438: The crimson-grub, of the color, from it, cloths dyed therewith

will eat them.
תֹאכְלֶ֖נּוּ (ṯō·ḵə·len·nū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 398: To eat


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OT Law: Deuteronomy 28:39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them (Deut. De Du)
Deuteronomy 28:38
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