Isaiah 37:30

Isaiah’s reference to crops gives a signal to God’s people. For two years they will have to find food that grows naturally. But in the third year they will be able to sow and to harvest crops again. By then, the fields will have recovered from the effects of the *Assyrian soldiers. During the troubles, the people in *Jerusalem had neglected to look after the fields.

• New *vines take several years to produce their first *grapes.