Impenitence of Israel and Judah

²⁰ For if, after they ^(A)have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are ^(B)again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. ²¹ For ^(C)it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ^(D)“A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

⁴¹ Now as He drew near, He saw the city and ^(A)wept over it, ⁴² saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this ^(B)your day, the things that ^(C)make for your ^(D)peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

⁷ Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it ^[a]use up the ground?’ ⁸ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ^9 [b]And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can ^(A)cut it down.’ ”

²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when ^(A)tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately ^(B)he stumbles.

¹⁵ Then you ^[a]recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you ^(A)made a covenant before Me ^(B)in the house which is called by My name.