¹³ As that old proverb says, ‘From evil people come evil deeds.’ So you can be sure I will never harm you.

²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

¹⁶ You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.

³³ “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. ³⁴ You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.

¹⁹ For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.