⁴ It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened,^(A) who have tasted the heavenly gift,^(B) who have shared in the Holy Spirit,^(C)

²⁶ If we deliberately keep on sinning^(A) after we have received the knowledge of the truth,^(B) no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire^(C) that will consume the enemies of God. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.^{(D) 29} How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God^(E) underfoot,^(F) who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant^(G) that sanctified them,^(H) and who has insulted the Spirit^(I) of grace?^(J)

²⁰ If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing^(A) our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ^(B) and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.^{(C) 21} It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.^{(D) 22} Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”^[a](E) and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.^(A)

⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.^(A)

³¹ And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.^{(A) 32} Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age^(B) or in the age to come.^(C)

True and False Disciples

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’^(A) will enter the kingdom of heaven,^(B) but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.^{(C) 22} Many will say to me on that day,^(D) ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’^(E)

¹⁵ See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God^(A) and that no bitter root^(B) grows up to cause trouble and defile many. ¹⁶ See that no one is sexually immoral,^(C) or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.^{(D) 17} Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears,^(E) he could not change what he had done.

²⁴ “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ ²⁵ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”^(A)