¹³ Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.^(A)

³⁵ John was a lamp that burned and gave light,^(A) and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

³² Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs^(A) with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.^(B)

¹² These people are blemishes at your love feasts,^(A) eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves.^(B) They are clouds without rain,^(C) blown along by the wind;^(D) autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted^(E)—twice dead.

²² Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”^[a](A) and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

²⁰ If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing^(A) our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ^(B) and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.^(C)

³⁹ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

¹⁸ who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place,^(A) and they destroy the faith of some.^{(B) 19} Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm,^(C) sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,”^(D) and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord^(E) must turn away from wickedness.”