¹⁵ But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word ^[a]with a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit with ^[b]perseverance.

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15 “^(A)I am the true vine, and My Father is the ^(B)vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He ^[a]prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ^3 (C)You are already ^[b]clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ^4 (D)Remain in Me, ^[c]and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit ^[d]of itself ^[e]but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him ^[f](E)bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is ^(F)thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

^12 (A)for the equipping of the ^[a]saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of ^(B)the body of Christ; ¹³ until we all attain to ^(C)the unity of the faith, and of the ^[b](D)knowledge of the Son of God, to a ^(E)mature man, to the measure of the stature ^[c]which belongs to the ^(F)fullness of Christ. ^14 [d]As a result, we are ^(G)no longer to be children, ^(H)tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by ^(I)craftiness ^[e]in ^(J)deceitful scheming; ¹⁵ but ^[f]speaking the truth ^(K)in love, ^[g]we are to ^(L)grow up in all aspects into Him who is the ^(M)head, that is, Christ, ¹⁶ from whom ^(N)the whole body, being fitted and held together ^[h]by what every joint supplies, according to the ^[i]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself ^(O)in love.