27 Bible Verses about Unfruitfulness

Most Relevant Verses

Matthew 21:19

Seeing a lone fig tree at the roadside, He went to it and found nothing but leaves on it; and He said to it, “Never again will fruit come from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

Mark 11:14

He said to it, “No one will ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening [to what He said].

Job 15:32-33


“It will be fulfilled while he still lives,
And his branch will not be green [but shall wither away].

“He will fail to bring his grapes to maturity [leaving them to wither unnourished] on the vine,
And will cast off blossoms [and fail to bring forth fruit] like the olive tree.

Ezekiel 17:9

Thus says the Lord God, ‘Ask, “Will it thrive? Will he (Nebuchadnezzar) not uproot it and strip off its fruit so that all its sprouting leaves will wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to uproot it [ending Israel’s national existence].

Ezekiel 19:10-12


‘Your mother [Jerusalem] was like a vine in your vineyard,
Planted by the waters;
It was fruitful and full of branches
Because of abundant water.

‘And it had strong branches for the scepters of rulers,
And its height was raised above the thick branches and into the clouds
So that it was seen [easily] in its height with the mass of its branches.

‘But the vine was uprooted in [godly] wrath [by His representative]
And it was thrown down to the ground;
The east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branch was broken off
So that it withered;
The fire [of God’s judgment] consumed it.

Matthew 21:43

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to [another] people who will produce the fruit of it.

Hebrews 6:7-8

For soil that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces crops useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God; but if it persistently produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

Leviticus 26:18-20

If in spite of all this you still will not listen to Me and be obedient, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break your pride in your power, and I will make your sky like iron [giving no rain and blocking all prayers] and your ground like bronze [hard to plow and yielding no produce]. Your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

Deuteronomy 11:17

or [else] the Lord’s anger will be kindled and burn against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the land will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

Deuteronomy 28:15-16

“But it shall come about, if you do not listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: “You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field.

Psalm 78:46


He also gave their crops to the grasshopper,
And the fruit of their labor to the locust.

Psalm 107:33-34


He turns rivers into a wilderness,
And springs of water into a thirsty ground;

A productive land into a [barren] salt waste,
Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

Isaiah 5:10


“For ten acres of vineyard will yield [only] one bath of wine,
And a homer (six bushels) of seed will produce [only] one ephah of grain.”

Isaiah 32:10


In little more than a year
You will tremble [with anxiety], you unsuspecting and complacent women;
For the vintage has ended,
And the harvest will not come.

Hosea 8:7


For they sow the wind [in evil]
And they reap the whirlwind [in disaster].
The standing grain has no growth;
It yields no grain.
If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it up.

Haggai 2:19

Is the seed still in the barn? As to the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree—they have not produced. Yet from this day on I will bless you [in the harvest of your crops].’”

Matthew 13:22

And the one on whom seed was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the worries and distractions of the world and the deceitfulness [the superficial pleasures and delight] of riches choke the word, and it yields no fruit.

Mark 4:19

but the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures], and the deceitfulness [and the false security or glamour] of wealth [or fame], and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

John 15:4

Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me.

John 15:6

If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

Isaiah 5:1-7

Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [Lord]
A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people).
My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan).

He dug it all around and cleared away its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine (the people of Judah).
And He built a tower in the center of it;
And also hewed out a wine vat in it.
Then He expected it to produce [the choicest] grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.
“And now, says the Lord, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard (My people).
read more.

“What more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield worthless ones?

“So now let me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will take away its thorn-hedge, and it will be burned up;
I will break down its stone wall and it will be trampled down [by enemies].

“I will turn it into a wasteland;
It will not be pruned or cultivated,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.”
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house (nation) of Israel
And the men of Judah are His delightful planting [which He loves].
So He looked for justice, but in fact, [He saw] bloodshed and lawlessness;
[He looked] for righteousness, but in fact, [He heard] a cry of distress and oppression.

Matthew 3:8-10

So produce fruit that is consistent with repentance [demonstrating new behavior that proves a change of heart, and a conscious decision to turn away from sin]; and do not presume to say to yourselves [as a defense], ‘We have Abraham for our father [so our inheritance assures us of salvation]’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children (descendants) for Abraham. And already the axe [of God’s judgment] is swinging toward the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Luke 3:9

Even now the axe [of God’s judgment] is swinging toward the root of the trees; so every tree that does not produce good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Matthew 7:19

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Luke 13:6-9

Then He began telling them this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find any; so he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and have found none. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground [depleting the soil and blocking the sunlight]?’ But he replied to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, [just] one more year until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; read more.
and if it bears fruit after this, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

John 15:2

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit].

From Thematic Bible


Unfruitfulness » Failure to invest life's resources

John 15:2

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit].

Luke 19:20

Then another came and said, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I have kept laid up in a handkerchief [for safekeeping].

Unfruitfulness » Worldliness a cause of

Matthew 13:22

And the one on whom seed was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the worries and distractions of the world and the deceitfulness [the superficial pleasures and delight] of riches choke the word, and it yields no fruit.

Unfruitfulness » Divine judgment visited upon

Matthew 3:10

And already the axe [of God’s judgment] is swinging toward the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Unfruitfulness » Ends in spiritual rejection

Hebrews 6:8

but if it persistently produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

Unfruitfulness » General references to

Isaiah 5:2


He dug it all around and cleared away its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine (the people of Judah).
And He built a tower in the center of it;
And also hewed out a wine vat in it.
Then He expected it to produce [the choicest] grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.

Unfruitfulness » Results in the master's disappointment

Luke 13:6

Then He began telling them this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find any;

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Theasaurus: Unfruitfulness