1 Out in the highways, wherever you go,
Seed we must gather, and seed we must sow;
Even the tiniest seed has a power,
Be it of thistle or be it of flower.

Refrain:
God speed the little seed that on its mission goes,
Making this wilderness blossom as the rose.

2 Here, where it seems but a lone desert place,
Wanting in beauty and wanting in grace,
Some gentle creature in tenderness goes,
Plucking the nettle and planting the rose. [Refrain]

3 Gathering seed we must scatter as well;
God will watch over the place where it fell;
Only the gain of the harvest is ours;
Shall we plant nettles or shall we plant flowers? [Refrain]

4 That which we gather is that which we sow;
Seed-time and harvest alternately flow;
When we have finished with time't will be known
How we have gathered and how we have sown. [Refrain]