⁷ “If there is ^(A)a needy one among you, one of your brothers, in any of your gates of the towns in your land which Yahweh your God is giving you, ^(B)you shall not harden your heart nor close your hand from your needy brother; ⁸ but ^(C)you shall freely open your hand to him and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. ⁹ Beware lest there be a vile ^[a]thought in your heart, saying, ‘^(D)The seventh year, the year of the remission of debts, is near,’ and ^(E)your eye is hostile toward your needy brother, and you give him nothing; then he ^(F)may cry to Yahweh against you, and it will be a sin in you. ¹⁰ You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because ^(G)for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you send forth your hand to do. ^11 (H)For the needy will never cease to be ^[b]in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your afflicted and needy in your land.’

^34 (A)And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. ³⁵ But ^(B)love your enemies, and do good, and lend, ^[a]expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be ^(C)sons of ^(D)the Most High; for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and evil. ^36 [b]Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Do Not Judge

³⁷ “^(E)And do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; ^[c](F)pardon, and you will be ^[d]pardoned. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. They will ^[e]pour ^(G)into your lap a ^(H)good measure—pressed down, shaken together, running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

³⁹ And He also spoke a parable to them: “^(I)Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ^40 (J)A ^[f]student is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will ^[g]be like his teacher. ⁴¹ And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. ^43 (K)For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, ^[h]on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. ^44 (L)For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a bramble bush. ^45 (M)The good man out of the good ^[i]treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil. ^(N)For his mouth speaks from the abundance of his heart.

Build Your House on the Rock

⁴⁶ “^(O)Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ^47 (P)Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you whom he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the river burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who heard and did not do accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the river burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in ^(A)good ^[a]works, ^(B)to be generous and ready to share,