¹¹ though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
    and on the morning^(A) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest^(B) will be as nothing^(C)
    in the day of disease and incurable^(D) pain.^(E)

⁷ “They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.^(A)
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.^(B)
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.^(C)

⁸ As I have observed,^(A) those who plow evil^(B)
    and those who sow trouble reap it.^(C)

⁵ Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
    Wail, all you drinkers of wine;^(A)
wail because of the new wine,
    for it has been snatched^(B) from your lips.
⁶ A nation has invaded my land,
    a mighty army without number;^(C)
it has the teeth^(D) of a lion,
    the fangs of a lioness.
⁷ It has laid waste^(E) my vines
    and ruined my fig trees.^(F)
It has stripped off their bark
    and thrown it away,
    leaving their branches white.

⁸ Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth^(G)
    grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
⁹ Grain offerings and drink offerings^(H)
    are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,^(I)
    those who minister before the Lord.
¹⁰ The fields are ruined,
    the ground is dried up;^(J)
the grain is destroyed,
    the new wine^(K) is dried up,
    the olive oil fails.^(L)

¹¹ Despair, you farmers,^(M)
    wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,^(N)
    because the harvest of the field is destroyed.^(O)
12 The vine is dried up
    and the fig tree is withered;^(P)
the pomegranate,^(Q) the palm and the apple^[a] tree—
    all the trees of the field—are dried up.^(R)
Surely the people’s joy
    is withered away.

¹² Sow^(A) righteousness^(B) for yourselves,
    reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;^(C)
    for it is time to seek^(D) the Lord,
until he comes
    and showers his righteousness^(E) on you.
¹³ But you have planted wickedness,
    you have reaped evil,^(F)
    you have eaten the fruit of deception.^(G)
Because you have depended on your own strength
    and on your many warriors,^(H)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
    so that all your fortresses will be devastated^(I)—
as Shalman^(J) devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
    when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.^(K)
15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,
    because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
    the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.^(L)