¹⁶ You will recognize them ^(A)by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “For ^(A)no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, ⁴⁴ for ^(B)each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ^45 (C)The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces ^(D)evil, ^(E)for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit

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

²⁰ Thus you will recognize them ^(A)by their fruits.

^10 (A)But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in ^(B)the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain ^(C)to Balaam's error and ^(D)perished in Korah's rebellion. ¹² These are hidden reefs^{[a] (E)}at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, ^(F)shepherds feeding themselves; ^(G)waterless clouds, ^(H)swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, ^(I)uprooted; ^13 (J)wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of ^(K)their own shame; ^(L)wandering stars, ^(M)for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴ It was also about these that Enoch, ^(N)the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ^(O)“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, ^15 (P)to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have ^(Q)committed in such an ungodly way, and of all ^(R)the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ¹⁶ These are grumblers, malcontents, ^(S)following their own sinful desires; ^(T)they are loud-mouthed boasters, ^(U)showing favoritism to gain advantage.

A Call to Persevere

¹⁷ But you must ^(V)remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ They^[b] said to you, ^(W)“In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” ¹⁹ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, ^(X)devoid of the Spirit.

¹⁰ and especially ^(A)those who indulge^[a] in the lust of defiling passion and ^(B)despise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble ^(C)as they blaspheme the glorious ones, ^11 (D)whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. ^12 (E)But these, like irrational animals, ^(F)creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, ¹³ suffering wrong as ^(G)the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure ^(H)to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,^[b] while ^(I)they feast with you. ¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery,^{[c] (J)}insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts ^(K)trained in greed. ^(L)Accursed children! ¹⁵ Forsaking the right way, ^(M)they have gone astray. They have followed ^(N)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(O)gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^(P)a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

^17 (Q)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^(R)For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, ^(S)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(T)escaping from those who live in error.