Bible Strands
Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Hosea addresses Israel (Ephraim, Judah, Jacob) in a call to repentance, positioned between the image of a yoked heifer (v. 11) and the indictment of sowing wickedness (v. 13).
The words — נִיר (nîr) means "unplowed ground," the hard, unbroken field that must be cracked open before sowing; חֶסֶד (cheśed) is the covenant-loyalty term, not generic love.
The thread — Jeremiah 4:3 uses the identical "break up your unplowed ground" formula; James 3:18 echoes the sow-righteousness/reap pattern; Isaiah 45:8 pictures the heavens pouring down righteousness.
Why it lands — The verse demands a specific behavioral shift—acting justly—before it promises a response, and the "until He comes" clause sets a deadline rather than an open invitation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 4:3 For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.
- James 3:18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.
- Isaiah 45:8 Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it.
- Proverbs 11:18 The wicked man earns an empty wage, but he who sows righteousness reaps a true reward.
- Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Hosea 6:3 So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.
- Jeremiah 29:12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
- Psalms 105:4 Seek out the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.
- Ecclesiastes 11:6 Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.