Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁸ They don’t know or understand anything. Their eyes are plastered shut, so they can’t see. And their minds are closed, so they can’t understand. ¹⁹ No one stops to think. No one has enough knowledge or understanding to say, “I burned half of the wood in the fire. I also baked bread over its coals. I roasted meat and ate it. Now I am making the rest of the wood into a disgusting thing and bowing to a block of wood.” ²⁰ They eat ashes because they are deceived. Their own misguided minds lead them astray. They can’t rescue themselves or ask themselves, “Isn’t what I hold in my right hand a false god?”

False Prophets^(A)

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets. They come to you disguised as sheep, but in their hearts they are vicious wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by what they produce.

“People don’t pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, do they? ¹⁷ In the same way every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a rotten tree cannot produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Any tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into a fire. ²⁰ So you will know them by what they produce.