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¹⁰ For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
   and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
   giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
   it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
   and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

¹² For you shall go out in joy,
   and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
   shall burst into song,
   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
   instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
   for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Psalm 65

1  Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; ♦︎
   to you that answer prayer shall vows be paid.
2  To you shall all flesh come to confess their sins; ♦︎
   when our misdeeds prevail against us,
      you will purge them away.
3  Happy are they whom you choose
      and draw to your courts to dwell there. ♦︎
   We shall be satisfied with the blessings of your house,
      even of your holy temple.
4  With wonders you will answer us in your righteousness,
      O God of our salvation, ♦︎
   O hope of all the ends of the earth
      and of the farthest seas.
5  In your strength you set fast the mountains ♦︎
   and are girded about with might.
6  You still the raging of the seas, ♦︎
   the roaring of their waves
      and the clamour of the peoples.
7  Those who dwell at the ends of the earth
      tremble at your marvels; ♦︎
   the gates of the morning and evening sing your praise.
8  You visit the earth and water it; ♦︎
   you make it very plenteous.
9  The river of God is full of water; ♦︎
   you prepare grain for your people,
      for so you provide for the earth.
10  You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; ♦︎
   you soften the ground with showers and bless its increase.
11  You crown the year with your goodness, ♦︎
   and your paths overflow with plenty.
12  May the pastures of the wilderness flow with goodness ♦︎
   and the hills be girded with joy.
13  May the meadows be clothed with flocks of sheep ♦︎
   and the valleys stand so thick with corn
      that they shall laugh and sing.

Life in the Spirit

8There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²For the law of the Spirit^* of life in Christ Jesus has set you^* free from the law of sin and of death. ³For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin,^* he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.^{* 5}For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit^* set their minds on the things of the Spirit.^{* 6}To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit^* is life and peace. ⁷For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, ⁸and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit,^* since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit^* is life because of righteousness. ¹¹If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ^* from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through^* his Spirit that dwells in you.

The Parable of the Sower

13That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. ²Such 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. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. ⁶But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹Let anyone with ears^* listen!’

The Parable of the Sower Explained

18 ‘Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When 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. ²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹yet 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 the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²³But 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.’