²² If I had not come and spoken to them, ^(A)they would not have been guilty of sin,^[a] but now they have no excuse for their sin. ^23 (B)Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ^24 (C)If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, ^(D)they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have ^(E)seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But ^(F)the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ^(G)‘They hated me without a cause.’

¹⁹ Beloved, ^(A)never avenge yourselves, but leave it^[a] to the wrath of God, for it is written, ^(B)“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ To the contrary, ^(C)“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ He put another parable before them, saying, ^(A)“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵ but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds^[a] among the wheat and went away. ²⁶ So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. ²⁷ And the servants^[b] of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹ But he said, ^(B)‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ^(C)“Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

²⁶ For ^(A)if we go on sinning deliberately ^(B)after receiving the knowledge of the truth, ^(C)there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ^27 (D)but a fearful expectation of judgment, and ^(E)a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ^28 (F)Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy ^(G)on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one ^(H)who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned ^(I)the blood of the covenant ^(J)by which he was sanctified, and has ^(K)outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, ^(L)“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, ^(M)“The Lord will judge his people.” ^31 (N)It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.