The house of Israel ¹  called its name “manna.” ²  It was like coriander seed and was white, and it tasted ³  like wafers with honey.

The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag ¹  of seed, will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain. ² 

Indeed, a large vineyard ¹  will produce just a few gallons, ²  and enough seed to yield several bushels ³  will produce less than a bushel.” ⁴ 

¹ The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.

The grains of seed ¹  have shriveled beneath their shovels. ²  Storehouses have been decimated and granaries have been torn down, for the grain has dried up.

He presented them with another parable: ¹  “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field.

So the slaves ¹  of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’

It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, ¹  so that the wild birds ²  come and nest in its branches.” ³ 

He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.

But God gives it a body just as he planned, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

We have not built any houses to live in. We do not own any vineyards, fields, or crops.

Other seeds fell among the thorns, ¹  and they grew up and choked them. ² 

All the days of his separation he must not eat anything that is produced by the grapevine, from seed ¹  to skin. ² 

“You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it.

He will water the seed you plant in the ground, and the ground will produce crops in abundance. ¹  At that time ²  your cattle will graze in wide pastures.

He gave ¹  them another parable: ²  “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed ³  that a man took and sowed in his field.

It is like a mustard seed ¹  that a man took and sowed ²  in his garden. It ³  grew and became a tree, ⁴  and the wild birds ⁵  nested in its branches.” ⁶ 

You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

You must be certain to tithe ¹  all the produce of your seed that comes from the field year after year.

The ¹  seed sown on rocky ground ²  is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.