Luke 13:1-9

Some of those in the crowd informed Jesus that Pilate had slaughtered some Galilean Jews while they were offering sacrifices at the temple, mixing their blood with the sacrifices they were offering. Jesus turned and asked them, “Do you believe that the slaughtered Galileans were the worst sinners of all the Galileans? No, they weren’t! So listen to me, unless you all repent, you will perish as they did. What about the eighteen who perished when the tower of Siloam fell upon them? Do you really think that they were more guilty than all of the others in Jerusalem? No, they weren’t, and unless you repent, you too will all eternally perish, just as they did.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “There was a man who planted a fig tree in his orchard. But every time he came to gather fruit from his tree he found none, for it was barren. So he said to his gardener, ‘For the last three years I’ve come to gather figs from my tree but it remains fruitless. What a waste! Go ahead and cut it down!’ “But the gardener protested, ‘Sir, we should leave it one more year. Let me fertilize and cultivate it, then let’s see if it will produce fruit. If it doesn’t bear figs by next year, we’ll cut it down.’ ”