¹⁹ And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

¹⁶ They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions; they are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.^(A)

⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

⁹ Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”^(A)

² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes^[a] to make it bear more fruit.

¹⁴ He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

⁶ Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.^{(A) 7} So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’^{(B) 8} He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

¹¹ Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”^(A)

¹² These are blots^[a] on your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves.^[b] They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted;^(A)