Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Parallel translations
- WEB Every tree that doesn’t grow good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.
- BSB Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- NKJV Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- NASB Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- NLT So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Every tree that fails to bear good fruit is cut down and burned. Fruitlessness ends in judgment.
Overview
Echoing John the Baptist's warning, Jesus declares the fate of the fruitless tree: it is cut down and thrown into the fire. The image solemnly applies the fruit-test to final judgment, where lives are assessed by their genuine fruit. It warns that mere profession without the fruit of true faith cannot escape God's judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 3:10And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
- John 15:2–6Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
- Heb 6:8But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
- Luke 3:9And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
- Jude 1:12These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
- Luke 13:6–9He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
- Isa 27:11When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
- Isa 5:5–7And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
- Ezek 15:2–7Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
- Matt 21:19–20And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
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Original language
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