Verse (Click for Chapter) 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. Literal Translations Literal Standard VersionFor 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. 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. Smith's Literal Translation For they shall sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: no stalk to it: the sprout shall not make flour: perhaps it will make, strangers will swallow it down. Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleFor 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. Catholic Public Domain Version For they will sow wind and reap a whirlwind. It does not have a firm stalk; the bud will yield no grain. But if it does yield, strangers will eat it. 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. 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. Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleFor they have sown the wind, and they have reaped the whirlwind; it has no stalk, nor an ear to yield meal; and if it were to yield, the strangers shall eat it. Peshitta Holy Bible Translated 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 OT Translations JPS Tanakh 1917For 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. 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. 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 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. / 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. Job 4:8 As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same. 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.” Matthew 7:16-20 By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? / Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. / A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ... 2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 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. 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. James 3:18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness. Jeremiah 5:17 They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.” 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. Romans 6:21 What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death. Leviticus 26:16 then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. Deuteronomy 28:38-42 You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it. / You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. / You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off. ... Psalm 126:5-6 Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. / He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain. 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; … Jump to Previous 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 YieldsJump to Next 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 YieldsHosea 8 1. Destruction is threatened both to Israel and Judah for their impiety and idolatry.For they sow the wind The phrase "sow the wind" uses agricultural imagery to convey the futility and recklessness of Israel's actions. In Hebrew, the word for "wind" (רוּחַ, ruach) can also mean spirit or breath, symbolizing emptiness or vanity. The Israelites are engaging in idolatry and alliances with foreign nations, which are as insubstantial as the wind. This reflects a spiritual void, as they have turned away from God’s commandments and are investing in things that cannot bring true fulfillment or security. and they reap the whirlwind There is no standing grain what sprouts fails to yield flour Even if they do, foreigners will swallow it up 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 Links Hosea 8:7 NIVHosea 8:7 NLT Hosea 8:7 ESV Hosea 8:7 NASB Hosea 8:7 KJV Hosea 8:7 BibleApps.com Hosea 8:7 Biblia Paralela Hosea 8:7 Chinese Bible Hosea 8:7 French Bible Hosea 8:7 Catholic Bible OT Prophets: Hosea 8:7 For they sow the wind and they (Ho Hs Hos.) |
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