¹⁸ I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, ^(A)having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, ^(B)a fragrant offering, ^(C)a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

¹⁴ But ^(A)thanks be to God, who in Christ always ^(B)leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads ^(C)the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among ^(D)those who are being saved and among ^(E)those who are perishing,

^16 (A)If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷ But if ^(B)some of the branches were broken off, and you, ^(C)although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root^[a] of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. ¹⁹ Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you ^(D)stand fast through faith. So ^(E)do not become proud, but ^(F)fear. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. ²² Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, ^(G)provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise ^(H)you too will be cut off. ²³ And ^(I)even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the ^(A)true vine, and my Father is ^(B)the vinedresser.

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

³¹ He put another parable before them, saying, ^(A)“The kingdom of heaven is like ^(B)a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

^10 (A)The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and ^(B)behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. ^11 (C)The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. ^12 (D)Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. ^(E)The beasts of the field found shade under it, and ^(F)the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

¹³ “I saw in ^(G)the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, ^(H)a watcher, ^(I)a holy one, came down from heaven. ¹⁴ He ^(J)proclaimed aloud and said thus: ^(K)‘Chop down the tree and ^(L)lop off its branches, ^(M)strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. ^(N)Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

¹⁰ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because ^(P)it^[b] towered high and set its top among the clouds,^[c] and ^(Q)its heart was proud of its height,