and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts about other things entering in, they choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.
There is one alone, and there is not a second; and there is not a son or a brother to him; and there is not an end to all his labor; even his eyes are not satisfied with riches; and he says, For whom do I labor, and my soul be without good? This is also vanity; yea, it is an evil task.
And He dug about it, and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in its midst, and also hewed out a wine vat in it. And He waited for it to produce grapes, but it produced rotten grapes.
And the seed sown into the thornbushes is this: the one hearing the Word, and the anxiety of this age, and the deceit of riches, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.
But take heed to yourselves that your hearts not be loaded down with headaches, and drinking, and anxieties of life, and that day come suddenly upon you.
And be not conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, in order to prove by you what is the good and pleasing and perfect will of God.
in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience,
because our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the worldrulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenlies.
Charge the rich in the age now, not to be high-minded, nor to set hope on the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, the One offering to us richly all things for enjoyment;
For these things being in you, and abounding, they will place you so as not to be idle, not unfruitful into the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These are sunken rocks in your love feasts, feasting together with you, feeding themselves without fear, waterless clouds being carried about by winds, fruitless autumn trees, having died twice, having been plucked up by the roots;