'Harvest' in the Bible

“While the earth remains,Seedtime and harvest,Cold and heat,Winter and summer,And day and nightShall not cease.”

Now at the time of wheat harvest Reuben [the eldest child] went and found some mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five more years in which there will be no plowing and harvesting.

Also [you shall observe] the Feast of Harvest (Weeks, Pentecost, or First Fruits), acknowledging the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. And [third] the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the end of the year when you gather in [the fruit of] your labors from the field.

“You shall work for six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; [even] in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the Sabbath].

You shall observe and celebrate the Feast of Weeks (Harvest, First Fruits, or Pentecost), the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the year’s end.

‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings (grain left after reaping) of your harvest.

“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am giving you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.

‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the edges of your field, nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.’”

Whatever reseeds itself (uncultivated) in your harvest you shall not reap, nor shall you gather the grapes from your uncultivated vine, it shall be a year of sabbatical rest for the land.

“When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf [of grain] in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, for the orphan, and for the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His Name (Presence).

and when those who were carrying the ark came up to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were submerged at the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all of its banks throughout the time of harvest),

But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat [as a gift of reconciliation]; and he said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father would not allow him to go in.

So Naomi returned from the country of Moab, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Now the men of Beth-shemesh were gathering their wheat harvest in the valley, and they looked up and saw the ark and rejoiced to see it.

He will appoint them for himself to be commanders over thousands and over fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and equipment for his chariots.

Is it not [the beginning of the] wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord and He will send thunder and rain; then you will know [without any doubt], and see that your evil which you have done is great in the sight of the Lord by asking for yourselves a king.”

He handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord, and the seven died together. They were put to death in the first days of the grain harvest, the beginning of the barley harvest [in the spring].

Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest [in the spring] until [the autumn] rain fell on them; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on their bodies by day, nor the beasts of the field [to feed on them] by night.

In the third month [at the end of wheat harvest] they began to make the heaps, and they finished them in the seventh month.

“The hungry devour his harvestAnd take it even [when it grows] among the thorns;The trap opens for [his] wealth.

The earth has yielded its harvest [as evidence of His approval];God, our God, blesses us.

She prepares her food in the summerAnd brings in her provisions [of food for the winter] in the harvest.

He who gathers during summer and takes advantage of his opportunities is a son who acts wisely,But he who sleeps during harvest and ignores the moment of opportunity is a son who acts shamefully.

A man will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words,And the deeds of a man’s hands will return to him [as a harvest].

The lazy man does not plow when the winter [planting] season arrives;So he begs at the [next] harvest and has nothing [to reap].

Like the cold of snow [brought from the mountains] in the time of harvest,So is a faithful messenger to those who send him;For he refreshes the life of his masters.

Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest,So honor is not fitting for a [shortsighted] fool.

You [O God] will increase the nation,You will multiply their joy;They will rejoice before YouLike the joy and jubilation of the harvest,As men rejoice when they divide the spoil [of victory].

Therefore I (Isaiah) will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vines of Sibmah.I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh;For the war-cry [of the enemy] has fallen on your summer fruits and your harvest.

In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom;Yet [promising as it is] the harvest will be a heap [of ruins that passes away]In the day of sickness and incurable pain.

For this is what the Lord has said to me,“I will be quiet and I will look on from My dwelling place,Like shimmering heat above the sunshine,Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

For before the harvest, when the blossom is overAnd the flower becomes a ripening grape,He will cut off the sprigs [without buds] with pruning knives,And [He will] remove and cut away the spreading branches.

And they were on great waters.The grain of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile River, was Tyre’s revenue;And she was the market of nations.

And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,Which is at the head of the rich valley,Will be like the early fig before the summer,Which one sees,And as soon as it is in his handHe [greedily] swallows it [and so will the Assyrians rapidly devour Samaria, Israel’s capital].

Blessed (happy, fortunate) are you who cast your seed upon all waters [when the river overflows its banks and irrigates the land],You who allow the ox and the donkey to roam freely.

“Israel was holy [something set apart from ordinary purposes, consecrated] to the Lord,The first fruits of His harvest [in which no outsider was allowed to share].All who ate of it [injuring Israel] became guilty;Evil came on them,” says the Lord.’”

“They will consume your harvest and [eat up] your bread;They will consume your sons and your daughters;They will consume your flocks and your herds;They will consume your vines and your fig trees.With the sword they will break down and demolish your fortified cities in which you trust.

‘They do not say in their heart,“Let us now fear and worship the Lord our God [with profound awe and reverence],Who gives rain in its season,Both the autumn and the spring rain,Who keeps for usThe appointed weeks of the harvest.”

“The harvest is past, the summer has ended and the gathering of fruit is over,But we are not saved,” [comes the voice of the people again].

“O vines of Sibmah, I will weep for youMore than the weeping of Jazer [over its ruins and wasted vineyards].Your tendrils [of influence] stretched across the sea,Reaching [even] to the sea of Jazer.The destroyer has fallenOn your summer fruits and your [season’s] crop of grapes.

“Cut off the sower from BabylonAnd the one who handles the sickle at the time of harvest.For fear of the sword of the oppressorEveryone will return to his own peopleAnd everyone will flee to his own land.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:“The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floorAt the time it is being trampled and prepared;Yet in a little while the time of harvest will come for her.”

Also, O Judah, there is a harvest [of divine judgment] appointed for you,When I restore the fortunes of My people [who have been slaves to the misery of sin].

Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation as do the [pagan] peoples,For you have played the prostitute, turning away from your God.You have loved prostitutes’ earnings on every threshing floor [attributing the harvest to the Baals instead of to God].

Be ashamed, O farmers;Wail, O vinedressers,For the wheat and for the barley,Because the harvest of the field has perished.

Put in the sickle [of judgment], for the harvest is ripe;Come, tread [the grapes], for the wine press is full;The vats overflow, for the wickedness [of the people] is great.

“Furthermore, I withheld the rain from youWhen there were still three months until the harvest.Then I would send rain on one city,And on another city I would not send rain;One piece of ground was rained on,While the part not rained on would dry up.

You look for much [harvest], but it comes to little; and even when you bring that home, I blow it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house, which lies in ruins while each of you runs to his own house [eager to enjoy it].

Behold, I am going to rebuke your seed, and I will spread the refuse on your faces, the refuse from the festival offerings; and you will be taken away with it [in disgrace].