⁵⁵ The priest shall examine the diseased article after it has been washed. If the diseased spot has not changed color, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in fire, whether the worn^[a] spot is on the inside or on the outside.

²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the^[a] Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first.^{(A) 21} For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was handed on to them.^{(B) 22} It has happened to them according to the true proverb,

and,

⁹ For anyone who lacks these things is blind, suffering from eye disease, forgetful of the cleansing of past sins.^(A)

⁴ For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit^{(A) 5} and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come^{(B) 6} and then have fallen away, since they are crucifying again the Son of God to their own harm and are holding him up to contempt.^{(C) 7} Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God.^{(D) 8} But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and on the verge of being cursed; its end is to be burned over.^(E)