A Tree and Its Fruit

15 ^j“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ^kravenous wolves.

28 ^lPay careful attention to yourselves and to all ^mthe flock, in which ⁿthe Holy Spirit has made you ^ooverseers, ^pto care for ^qthe church of God,¹ which he ^robtained ^swith his own blood.² 29 I ^rknow that after my departure ^tfierce wolves will come in among you, ^unot sparing the flock; 30 and ^vfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore ^wbe alert, remembering that ^xfor three years I did not cease night or day ^yto admonish every one ^zwith tears.

Warning Against False Teachers

3 ^gAs I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not ^hto teach any different doctrine, 4 nor ⁱto devote themselves to myths and endless ^jgenealogies, which promote ^kspeculations rather than the stewardship¹ from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love ^lthat issues from a pure heart and ^ma good conscience and ⁿa sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by ^oswerving from these, have wandered away into ^pvain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, ^qwithout understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

Test the Spirits

1 Beloved, ^tdo not believe every spirit, but ^utest the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^vmany ^wfalse prophets ^xhave gone out into the world.