Judging Others

(A)Do not [a]judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and [b](B)by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you (C)look at the [c]speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? (D)Or how [d]can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the [e]speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the [f]speck out of your brother’s eye!

(E)Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Prayer and the Golden Rule

[g](F)Ask, and (G)it will be given to you; [h]seek, and you will find; [i]knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or what person is there among you [j]who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, [k]will give him a stone? 10 Or [l]if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 So if you, despite being [m]evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, (H)how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

12 “In everything, (I)therefore, [n]treat people the same way you want [o]them to treat you, for (J)this is the Law and the Prophets.

The Narrow and Wide Gates

13 (K)Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

A Tree and Its Fruit

15 “Beware of the (L)false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are (M)ravenous wolves. 16 You will [p](N)know them by their fruits. [q]Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So (O)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 (P)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will [r]know them (Q)by their fruits.

21 (R)Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 (S)Many will say to Me on (T)that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [s]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; (U)leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

The Two Foundations

24 “Therefore, (V)everyone who hears these words of Mine, and [t]acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell and the [u]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not [v]act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell and the [w]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”

28 [x](W)When Jesus had finished these words, (X)the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 7:1 I.e., make a habit of judging or have a judgmental attitude
  2. Matthew 7:2 Lit by which measure you measure
  3. Matthew 7:3 Or splinter
  4. Matthew 7:4 Lit will
  5. Matthew 7:4 Or splinter
  6. Matthew 7:5 Or splinter
  7. Matthew 7:7 Or Keep asking
  8. Matthew 7:7 Or keep seeking
  9. Matthew 7:7 Or keep knocking
  10. Matthew 7:9 Lit whom his son will ask
  11. Matthew 7:9 Lit he will not give him a stone, will he?
  12. Matthew 7:10 Lit also will ask
  13. Matthew 7:11 I.e., as sinful mankind
  14. Matthew 7:12 Lit you, too, do so for them
  15. Matthew 7:12 Lit people
  16. Matthew 7:16 Or recognize
  17. Matthew 7:16 Lit They do not gather
  18. Matthew 7:20 Or recognize
  19. Matthew 7:22 Or works of power
  20. Matthew 7:24 Lit does them
  21. Matthew 7:25 Lit rivers
  22. Matthew 7:26 Lit do them
  23. Matthew 7:27 Lit rivers
  24. Matthew 7:28 Lit And it happened when

The Sermon on the Mount: On Judging Others

“Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For by what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and by what measure you measure out, it will be measured out to you. 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? 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? 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!

“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

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 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

  1. Matthew 7:6 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“turn around”) has been translated as a finite verb
  2. Matthew 7:11 Here “although” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are”) which is understood as concessive
  3. Matthew 7:14 Some manuscripts have “how narrow”
  4. Matthew 7:16 The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated by “do they
  5. Matthew 7:23 Literally “I will declare to them”