Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Here is the proof that what I say is true: “This year you will eat only what grows up by itself, and next year you will eat what springs up from that. But in the third year you will plant crops and harvest them; you will tend vineyards and eat their fruit.
Parallel translations
- WEB “This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit.
- KJV And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
- BSB And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- NKJV ‘This shall be a sign to you: You shall eat this year such as grows of itself, And in the second year what springs from the same; Also in the third year sow and reap, Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
- NASB ‘Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God gives Hezekiah a sign: for two years they will eat what grows of itself, then in the third year resume normal sowing and reaping. The sign assures restoration after the disruption of war.
Overview
Turning to comfort Judah, God promises a sign of recovery: agriculture interrupted by invasion will return to normal within a few years. The progression from volunteer crops to renewed sowing pictures restored peace and provision. Such signs confirm God's word and strengthen faith. It assures the people that life will flourish again under God's blessing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Lev 25:20–22If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase”;
- 2 Kgs 20:8–9Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I will go up to Yahweh’s house the third day?”
- Exod 3:12He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
- Luke 2:12This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.”
- Isa 37:30This shall be the sign to you. You will eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same; and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
- 1 Sam 2:34“‘This will be the sign to you, that will come on your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they will both die.
- Lev 25:4–5but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahweh. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
- Isa 7:11–14“Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”
- 2 Kgs 19:31–34For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. Yahweh’s zeal will perform this.
- 2 Kgs 19:21This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 19:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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