And he spake this simile: 'A certain one had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit in it, and he did not find;

and he said unto the vine-dresser, Lo, three years I come seeking fruit in this fig-tree, and do not find, cut it off, why also the ground doth it render useless?

And he spake a simile to them: 'See the fig-tree, and all the trees,

for each tree from its own fruit is known, for not from thorns do they gather figs, nor from a bramble do they crop a grape.

'For there is not a good tree making bad fruit, nor a bad tree making good fruit;

and already also the axe unto the root of the trees is laid, every tree, therefore, not making good fruit is cut down, and to fire it is cast.'