"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for by its fruit the tree is known.

"No, every good tree bears good fruit, but a worthless tree bears bad fruit.

"A good tree cannot bear bad fruit; neither can a worthless tree bear good fruit.

and when he saw a solitary fig tree beside the road, he went to it, but found nothing on it but leaves. And he said to it, "Let no man gather fruit from you forever." And at once the fig tree withered away.

"You generation of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. "When the time of fruit drew near, he sent his slaves to the vine-dressers seized to get his fruit.

"Listen to another parable: "A man who was a householder planted a vineyard, fenced it about, dug a wine vat in it, built a tower, then rented it to vine-dressers and went abroad.

When the time of fruit drew near, he sent his slaves to the vine-dressers to get his fruit.

And the vine-dressers seized his slaves, flogged one, killed another, and stoned a third.

But when the vine-dressers saw his son, they said to themselves: "'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance.'

When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-dressers?"

"He will utterly destroy those wretches," they answered, "and will entrust his vineyard to other vine-dressers, who will pay back the fruits to him in their season."

"But I say to you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father."