³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

¹¹ We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope^(A) for may be fully realized.

⁸ Watch out that you do not lose what we^[a] have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.^(A)

¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”^{(A) 20} If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing^(B) our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ^(C) and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.^{(D) 21} It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.^{(E) 22} Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”^[a](F) and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

⁴ It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened,^(A) who have tasted the heavenly gift,^(B) who have shared in the Holy Spirit,^{(C) 5} who have tasted the goodness^(D) of the word of God^(E) and the powers of the coming age ⁶ and who have fallen^[a] away, to be brought back to repentance.^(F) To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God^(G) all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. ⁷ Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸ But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed.^(H) In the end it will be burned.

¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.^{(A) 12} If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is,^(B) because the Day^(C) will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.^{(D) 14} If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.^(E)

³⁸ And,

¹⁸ (With the payment^(A) he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field;^(B) there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. ¹⁹ Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language^(C) Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

³ When Judas, who had betrayed him,^(A) saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver^(B) to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”^(C)

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple^(D) and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.^(E)

⁶ The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸ That is why it has been called the Field of Blood^(F) to this day.