Deuteronomy 28:38
36 The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.
37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
39 You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.
40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
- KJV
- Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
- WEB
- You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in, for the locust will consume it.
- ASV
- Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.
- DARBY
- Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall devour it.
- BLB
- Much Seed you shall carry out into the field, and little gather in, for the locust shall consume it.
- ÅB
- Mye sæd skal du føre ut på marken, og lite skal du samle inn; for gresshoppen skal spise den av.
- OTB
- Du vil så mye såkorn i marken, men vil høste lite, fordi gresshopper vil fortære det.
- B1930
- Megen sæd skal du føre ut på marken, og lite skal du samle inn; for gresshoppen skal ete den av.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
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.”
Read in contextMicah 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.
Read in contextJoel 1:4
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
Read in contextAmos 4:9
“I struck you with blight and mildew in your growing gardens and vineyards; the locust devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
Read in contextJoel 2:25
I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts— the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust — My great army that I sent against you.
Read in contextIsaiah 5:10
For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
Read in contextJoel 2:3
Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland— surely nothing will escape them.
Read in contextExodus 10:14–15
The locusts swarmed across the land and settled over the entire territory of Egypt. Never before had there been so many locusts, and never again will there be.
Read in context