⁴ For it is impossible to keep on restoring to repentance time and again people who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have become partners with the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of God’s word and the powers of the coming age, ⁶ and who have fallen away, as long as they continue to crucify the Son of God to their own detriment by exposing him to public ridicule. ⁷ For when the ground soaks up rain that often falls on it and continues producing vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated, it receives a blessing from God. ⁸ However, if it continues to produce thorns and thistles, it is worthless and in danger of being cursed, and in the end will be burned.