reaps the whirlwind
Harvests chaos sown
To reap the whirlwind is to suffer severe consequences from earlier actions or mistakes.
The phrase comes from the biblical warning "they that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind"—if you plant trouble, you harvest catastrophe.
He ignored every warning, and now he reaps the whirlwind.
The expression suggests that consequences arrive multiplied, disproportionate to the original offense.
- HoseaEighth-century Israelite prophet
- biblical prophecyReligious predictions from scripture
- consequencesResults of actions taken
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- repercussionsIndirect results of actions
accountability · escalation · domino effect · scripture · calamity · chain reaction · butterfly effect · self-fulfilling prophecy · comeuppance · karmic justice · poetic justice · divine retribution · responsibility · recklessness · parable · idiom · Old Testament · moral tale
reaps the whirlwindreaps the harvest
Gathers mature crops
counts one's blessings · prospers · thrives · flourishes · bears fruit
reaps the whirlwindlands on one's feet
Recovers well from difficulty
dodges a bullet · gets away with murder · slips through the cracks
reaps, reaped, reaping, reaper, reapers, whirlwind, whirlwinds, whirl, whirls