Early next morning, as they walked along the road, they saw the fig tree. It was dead all the way down to its roots.

Peter remembered what had happened and said to Jesus, "Look, Teacher, the fig tree you cursed has died!"

"Here is what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge around it, break down the wall that protects it, and let wild animals eat it and trample it down.

I will let it be overgrown with weeds. I will not trim the vines or hoe the ground; instead, I will let briers and thorns cover it. I will even forbid the clouds to let rain fall on it."

The ax is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire.

And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire.

"To have good fruit you must have a healthy tree; if you have a poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it bears.

A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things.

He saw a fig tree by the side of the road and went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. So he said to the tree, "You will never again bear fruit!" At once the fig tree dried up.

"Listen to another parable," Jesus said. "There was once a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to tenants and left home on a trip.

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Those who do not remain in me are thrown out like a branch and dry up; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, where they are burned.

"Israel, remember this! The LORD ---and the LORD alone---is our God.

Never forget these commands that I am giving you today.

Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder.

"Today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse---

but a curse, if you disobey these commands and turn away to worship other gods that you have never worshiped before.

(These two mountains are west of the Jordan River in the territory of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley. They are toward the west, not far from the sacred trees of Moreh near the town of Gilgal.)

If people have escaped from the corrupting forces of the world through their knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them, such people are in worse condition at the end than they were at the beginning.

Whoever is evil must go on doing evil, and whoever is filthy must go on being filthy; whoever is good must go on doing good, and whoever is holy must go on being holy."