Matthew 3:10 - Plain English Version

¹⁰ So you look out. God is going to punish you. He is like a man lifting up an axe to cut the roots of a tree. You are like trees that haven’t got good fruit, so men chop them down and throw them into a fire. God will punish you like that. He will throw you into a fire.”

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

¹⁰ And 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.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

¹⁰ And already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

American Standard Version (1901)

¹⁰ And even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Common English Bible

¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire.

Catholic Public Domain Version

¹⁰ For even now the axe has been placed at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not produce good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire.

Matthew 3:10 Cross References

Matthew 7:19

If a farmer has a tree that only makes rubbish fruit, he will cut down that tree and burn it in a fire.

Luke 23:31

You see, I didn’t do anything wrong and people are hurting me. But you mob do bad things, so people will hurt you a lot more.” (We have not yet translated 23:32-38. You can read those stories and messages in Mark 15:21-32. They are about how soldiers nailed Jesus and 2 criminals to crosses.)

John 15:2

And people are like the branches of that grape vine. There are some people that don’t live God’s way. They are like branches on the vine that don’t grow any fruit. They are no good, so the gardener cuts them off. But some people do live God’s way. They are like branches on the vine that do grow fruit. My father keeps on working on those people, to get them to live God’s way even better. He is like the gardener that cleans up the good branches and trims them back a little bit, so that they will grow more fruit.

John 15:6

Some people might not stay joined to me. They will be like branches that the gardener cuts off and throws away. They lie on the ground and dry up, and later on, he will pick them up and throw them into a fire, and it will burn them up.