^16 (A)You will know them by their fruits. ^(B)Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit^(A)

^43 (B)“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴ For ^(C)every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. ^45 (D)A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil ^[a]treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out ^(E)of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

¹² Can a ^(A)fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? ^[a]Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

A Tree Known by Its Fruit^(A)

³³ “Either make the tree good and ^(B)its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

¹⁰ and especially ^(A)those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. ^(B)They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of ^[a]dignitaries, ¹¹ whereas ^(C)angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

Depravity of False Teachers

¹² But these, ^(D)like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, ^13 (E)and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure ^(F)to ^[b]carouse in the daytime. ^(G)They are spots and blemishes, ^[c]carousing in their own deceptions while ^(H)they feast with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of ^[d]adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. ^(I)They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. ¹⁵ They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of ^(J)Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

^17 (K)These are wells without water, ^[e]clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness ^[f]forever.

Deceptions of False Teachers

¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who ^[g]have actually escaped from those who live in error.

^10 (A)But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone in the way ^(B)of Cain, ^(C)have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished ^(D)in the rebellion of Korah.

Apostates Depraved and Doomed

¹² These are ^[a]spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried ^[b]about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; ^13 (E)raging waves of the sea, ^(F)foaming up their own shame; wandering stars ^(G)for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

¹⁴ Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the ^(H)harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Apostates Predicted

¹⁶ These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they ^(I)mouth great swelling words, ^(J)flattering people to gain advantage. ^17 (K)But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: ¹⁸ how they told you that ^(L)there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These are ^[c]sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.