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Zechariah 11

Amplified Bible, 2015 (AMP)

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¹ Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil; and immediately a plant sprang up[1] because the soil had no depth.

² And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched; and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away.

³ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.

⁴ And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times [as much as had been sown]."

⁵ And He said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words."

⁶ As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve [disciples], began asking Him about [the interpretation of] the parables.

⁷ He said to them, "The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables,

⁸ so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn [from their rejection of the truth] and be forgiven."

⁹ Then He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables?

¹⁰ The sower sows the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation].

¹¹ These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the word is sown; but when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

¹² In a similar way these [in the second group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy [but accept it only superficially];

¹³ and they have no real root in themselves, so they endure only for a little while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they [are offended and displeased at being associated with Me and] stumble and fall away.

¹⁴ And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,

¹⁵ but the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures], and the deceitfulness [and the false security or glamour] of wealth [or fame], and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

¹⁶ And those [in the last group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation] and accept it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much [as was sown]."

¹⁷ He said to them, "A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?

#	AMP
1	Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil; and immediately a plant sprang up[1] because the soil had no depth.
2	And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched; and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away.
3	Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.
4	And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times [as much as had been sown]."
5	And He said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words."
6	As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve [disciples], began asking Him about [the interpretation of] the parables.
7	He said to them, "The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables,
8	so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn [from their rejection of the truth] and be forgiven."
9	Then He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables?
10	The sower sows the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation].
11	These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the word is sown; but when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
12	In a similar way these [in the second group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy [but accept it only superficially];
13	and they have no real root in themselves, so they endure only for a little while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they [are offended and displeased at being associated with Me and] stumble and fall away.
14	And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
15	but the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures], and the deceitfulness [and the false security or glamour] of wealth [or fame], and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
16	And those [in the last group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation] and accept it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much [as was sown]."
17	He said to them, "A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?

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