Are You Sowing the Seed?

Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom, brother,
In the morning bright and fair?
Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom, brother,
In the heat of the noonday’s glare?

Refrain

For the harvest time is coming on,
And the reapers’ work will soon be done;
Will your sheaves be many? Will you garner any
For the gathering at the harvest home?

Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom, sister,
In the still and solemn night?
Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom, sister,
For a harvest pure and white?

Refrain

Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom, brother,
All along the fertile way?
Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom, sister?
You must reap at the last great day!

Refrain

Author: J. H. Rosecrans

Year: 1884

This gospel song with its characteristic refrain about the harvest and reapers is a well-known work of the 19th-century composer and hymn-writer James H. Rosecrans (also credited as J. H. Rosecrans). The lyrics are sometimes listed under the longer title 'Are You Sowing the Seed of the Kingdom?' and appear in numerous shape-note and gospel hymnals of the period.