The seven thin cows which came up later and the seven thin heads of grain scorched by the desert wind are seven years of famine.

This is only the second year of famine in the land; there will be five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor reaping.

Happy are those who are concerned for the poor; the LORD will help them when they are in trouble.

He let hungry people settle there, and they built a city to live in.

They sowed the fields and planted grapevines and reaped an abundant harvest.

Happy is the person who is generous with his loans, who runs his business honestly.

People curse someone who hoards grain, waiting for a higher price, but they praise the one who puts it up for sale.

A hard-working farmer has plenty to eat, but it is stupid to waste time on useless projects.

Unused fields could yield plenty of food for the poor, but unjust people keep them from being farmed.

Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too. You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other.

Farmers don't constantly plow their fields and keep getting them ready for planting.

Once they have prepared the soil, they plant the seeds of herbs such as dill and cumin. They plant rows of wheat and barley, and at the edges of their fields they plant other grain.

"My word is like the snow and the rain that come down from the sky to water the earth. They make the crops grow and provide seed for planting and food to eat.

"Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant? It is the one that his master has placed in charge of the other servants to give them their food at the proper time.

And God, who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest from your generosity.