First Reading
Deuteronomy 11:10-15 or Ezekiel 47:6-12 or Jeremiah 14:1-9

Deuteronomy 11:10-15

For the land that you are about to enter to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sow your seed and irrigate by foot like a vegetable garden. But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky, a land that the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord yorour God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

If you will only heed his every commandment that I am commanding you today—loving the Lord your God, and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul— then he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; and he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill.

or

Ezekiel 47:6-12

Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on one side and on the other. He said to me, ‘This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. People will stand fishing beside the sea from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.’

or

Jeremiah 14:1-9

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
Judah mourns
   and her gates languish;
they lie in gloom on the ground,
   and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
Her nobles send their servants for water;
   they come to the cisterns,
they find no water,
   they return with their vessels empty.
They are ashamed and dismayed
   and cover their heads,
because the ground is cracked.
   Because there has been no rain on the land
the farmers are dismayed;
   they cover their heads.
Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
   because there is no grass.
The wild asses stand on the bare heights,
   they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
   because there is no herbage.

Although our iniquities testify against us,
   act, O Lord, for your name’s sake;
our apostasies indeed are many,
   and we have sinned against you.
O hope of Israel,
   its saviour in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
   like a traveller turning aside for the night?
Why should you be like someone confused,
   like a mighty warrior who cannot give help?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
   and we are called by your name;
   do not forsake us!

Psalm 147 or 147:1-13    Laudate Domine

1

Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing praises to our God! *
     how pleasant it is to honor him with praise!

2

The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem; *
     he gathers the exiles of Israel.

3

He heals the brokenhearted *
     and binds up their wounds.

4

He counts the number of the stars *
     and calls them all by their names.

5

Great is our LORD and mighty in power; *
     there is no limit to his wisdom.

6

The LORD lifts up the lowly, *
     but casts the wicked to the ground.

7

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; *
     make music to our God upon the harp.

8

He covers the heavens with clouds *
     and prepares rain for the earth;

9

He makes grass to grow upon the mountains *
     and green plants to serve mankind.

10

He provides food for flocks and herds *
     and for the young ravens when they cry.

11

He is not impressed by the might of a horse; *
     he has no pleasure in the strength of a man;

12

But the LORD has pleasure in those who fear him, *
     in those who await his gracious favor.

[13

Worship the LORD, O Jerusalem; *
     praise your God, O Zion;

14

For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; *
     he has blessed your children within you.

15

He has established peace on your borders; *
     he satisfies you with the finest wheat.

16

He sends out his command to the earth, *
     and his word runs very swiftly.

17

He gives snow like wool; *
     he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.

18

He scatters his hail like bread crumbs; *
     who can stand against his cold?

19

He sends forth his word and melts them; *
     he blows with his wind, and the waters flow.

20

He declares his word to Jacob, *
     his statutes and his judgments to Israel.

21

He has not done so to any other nation; *
     to them he has not revealed his judgments.
     Hallelujah!]

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Gospel
Mark 4:26-32

Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’

He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’