1st Scripture Reading – Psalm 65:9-13
9 You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow;
the hills gird themselves with joy;
13
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks;
the valleys deck themselves with grain;
they shout and sing together for joy.
2nd Scripture Reading – Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
The Parable of the Sower
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds
gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the
beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow.
4
And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds
fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they
had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root,
they withered away.
7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty.
9
If you have ears, hear!”
The Parable of the Sower Explained
18 “Hear, then, the parable of the sower.
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and
does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is
what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears
the word and immediately receives it with joy,
21 yet such a person has no root but endures only
for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person
immediately falls away.
22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the
word, but the cares of this age and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23
But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another
thirty.”