Sow to yourselves in righteousness, Reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; For it is time to seek Yahweh, Until he comes and rains righteousness on you.
A second appeal couched in agricultural metaphor is for Ephraim to “break up your fallow ground,” i.e., unplowed ground. This imperative implies a change in the old ways of this people and the commencement of a new course of life. Before seed can be sowed or harvest reaped, the ground must be prepared. Weeds must be removed. This again is a metaphor for repentance.