The people of Israel will again live under my protection. They will grow like grain. They will bloom like a vine. They will be like the wine of Lebanon.
“These people will plant in peace. Their grapevines will produce grapes. The land will give good crops, and the skies will give rain. I will give all these things to my people.
I myself will plant it on a high mountain in Israel. That branch will grow into a tree. It will grow branches and make fruit and become a beautiful cedar tree. Many birds will sit on its branches and live in the shadows under its branches.
The earth causes plants to grow, and a garden makes the seeds planted there rise up. In the same way, the Lord GOD will make goodness and praise grow throughout the nations.
My lover, among other men, you are an apple tree among the wild trees in the forest! I enjoy sitting in my lover’s shadow; his fruit is so sweet to my taste.
It is a fact that a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die before it can grow and produce much more wheat. If it never dies, it will never be more than a single seed.