“Listen! A sower went out to sow. ¹ 

¹ “For six years ²  you are to sow your land and gather in its produce.

then let me sow ¹  and let another eat, and let my crops ²  be uprooted.

They cultivated ¹  fields, and planted vineyards, which yielded a harvest of fruit. ² 

Those who shed tears as they plant will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. ¹ 

Fool! What you sow will not come to life unless it dies.

Even as I have seen, ¹  those who plow ²  iniquity ³  and those who sow trouble reap the same. ⁴ 

He ¹  told them many things in parables, ²  saying: “Listen! ³  A sower went out to sow. ⁴ 

And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed ¹  – perhaps of wheat or something else.

He who watches the wind will not sow, and he who observes the clouds will not reap. ¹ 

Six years you may sow your field, and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather the produce, ¹ 

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?’

For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe ¹  man. You withdraw ²  what you did not deposit ³  and reap what you did not sow.’

They are illustrations of this true proverb: ¹  “A dog returns to its own vomit,” ²  and “A sow, after washing herself, ³  wallows in the mire.” ⁴ 

If you say, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow and gather our produce?’

Yes, ¹  the Lord has this to say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground, you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning; just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted, you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives. ² 

but in the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath of complete rest ¹  – a Sabbath to the Lord. You must not sow your field or ²  prune your vineyard.

That fiftieth year will be your jubilee; you must not sow the land, harvest its aftergrowth, or pick the grapes of its unpruned vines. ¹ 

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap unfailing love. Break up the unplowed ground for yourselves, for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers deliverance ¹  on you.

“A sower went out to sow ¹  his seed. ²  And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds ³  devoured it.