¹⁹ “When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man’s food.

^2 (A)Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He ^[a]takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear ^(B)more fruit. ^3 (C)You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ^4 (D)Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

⁵ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much ^(E)fruit; for without Me you can do ^(F)nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, ^(G)he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words ^(H)abide in you, ^(I)you^[b] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ^8 (J)By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; ^(K)so you will be My disciples.

¹⁰ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. ^(A)Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

⁶ But the ^(A)Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us.

^19 (A)And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

⁷ Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it ^[a]use up the ground?’ ⁸ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ^9 [b]And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can ^(A)cut it down.’ ”

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits^(A)

^15 (B)“Beware of false prophets, ^(C)who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ^16 (D)You will know them by their fruits. ^(E)Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, ^(F)every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ^19 (G)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.