Matthew 7
Lexham English Bible
The Sermon on the Mount: On Judging Others
7 “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. 2 For by what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and by what measure you measure out, it will be measured out to you. 3 And why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam of wood in your own eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Allow me to remove the speck from your eye,’ and behold, the beam of wood is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the beam of wood from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye!
6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls in front of pigs, lest they trample them with their feet, and turn around and[a] tear you to pieces.
The Sermon on the Mount: Ask, Seek, Knock
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you, if his son will ask him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or also if he will ask for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 Therefore if you, although you[b] are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? 12 Therefore in all things, whatever you want that people should do to you, thus also you do to them. For this is the law and the prophets.
The Sermon on the Mount: The Narrow Gate
13 “Enter through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it, 14 because narrow[c] is the gate and constricted is the road that leads to life, and there are few who find it!
The Sermon on the Mount: Recognizing False Prophets
15 “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they?[d] 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree to produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 As a result, you will recognize them by their fruits.
The Sermon on the Mount: False Followers
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many miracles in your name?’ 23 And then I will say to them plainly,[e] ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’
The Sermon on the Mount: Two Houses and Two Foundations
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not collapse, because its foundation was laid on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed, and its fall was great.”
The Sermon on the Mount: Response
28 And it happened when Jesus finished these words the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.
Footnotes
- Matthew 7:6 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“turn around”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 7:11 Here “although” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are”) which is understood as concessive
- Matthew 7:14 Some manuscripts have “how narrow”
- Matthew 7:16 The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated by “do they”
- Matthew 7:23 Literally “I will declare to them”
Matthew 7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Judging Others
7 “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.(A) 2 For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
Profaning the Holy
6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.(B)
Ask, Search, Knock
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.(C) 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.(D) 9 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? 10 Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? 11 If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
The Golden Rule
12 “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.(E)
The Narrow Gate
13 “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.(F) 14 For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.(G) 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles?(H) 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.(I) 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits.
Concerning Self-Deception
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.(J) 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’(K) 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly.’(L)
Hearers and Doers
24 “Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.(M) 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”
28 Now when Jesus had finished saying these words, the crowds were astounded at his teaching,(N) 29 for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes.
Footnotes
- 7.13 Other ancient authorities read for the road is wide and easy
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.