and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

A Tree and Its Fruit

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,

for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.

And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’

Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?

It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.

When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.

For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”