Do Not Judge^(A)

7 “Judge^{[a] (B)}not, that you be not judged. ² For with what ^[b]judgment you judge, you will be judged; ^(C)and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ^3 (D)And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

^6 (E)“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking^(F)

^7 (G)“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For ^(H)everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ^9 (I)Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? ¹¹ If you then, ^(J)being 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, ^(K)whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for ^(L)this is the Law and the Prophets.

The Narrow Way^(M)

^13 (N)“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ^14 [c]Because narrow is the gate and ^[d]difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits^(O)

^15 (P)“Beware of false prophets, ^(Q)who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ^16 (R)You will know them by their fruits. ^(S)Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, ^(T)every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ^19 (U)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

I Never Knew You^(V)

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ^(W)‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who ^(X)does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we ^(Y)not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And ^(Z)then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; ^(AA)depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Build on the Rock^(AB)

²⁴ “Therefore ^(AC)whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

²⁶ “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

²⁸ And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that ^(AD)the people were astonished at His teaching, ^29 (AE)for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Further Wise Sayings of Solomon

25 These^(A) also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied:

A Pattern of Self-Denial

9 Am ^(A)I not an apostle? Am I not free? ^(B)Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? ^(C)Are you not my work in the Lord? ² If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are ^(D)the ^[a]seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ My defense to those who examine me is this: ^4 (E)Do we have no ^[b]right to eat and drink? ⁵ Do we have no right to take along ^[c]a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, ^(F)the brothers of the Lord, and ^(G)Cephas? ⁶ Or is it only Barnabas and I ^(H)who have no right to refrain from working? ⁷ Who ever ^(I)goes to war at his own expense? Who ^(J)plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who ^(K)tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?

⁸ Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? ⁹ For it is written in the law of Moses, ^(L)“You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? ¹⁰ Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that ^(M)he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. ^11 (N)If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? ¹² If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?

^(O)Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things ^(P)lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. ^13 (Q)Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the ^(R)temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? ¹⁴ Even so ^(S)the Lord has commanded ^(T)that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

¹⁵ But ^(U)I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for ^(V)it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void. ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for ^(W)necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this willingly, ^(X)I have a reward; but if against my will, ^(Y)I have been entrusted with a stewardship. ¹⁸ What is my reward then? That ^(Z)when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel ^[d]of Christ without charge, that I ^(AA)may not abuse my authority in the gospel.

Serving All Men

¹⁹ For though I am ^(AB)free from all men, ^(AC)I have made myself a servant to all, ^(AD)that I might win the more; ²⁰ and ^(AE)to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the ^[e]law, that I might win those who are under the law; ^21 (AF)to ^(AG)those who are without law, as without law ^(AH)(not being without ^[f]law toward God, but under ^[g]law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; ^22 (AI)to the weak I became ^[h]as weak, that I might win the weak. ^(AJ)I have become all things to all men, ^(AK)that I might by all means save some. ²³ Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

Striving for a Crown

²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? ^(AL)Run in such a way that you may ^[i]obtain it. ²⁵ And everyone who competes for the prize ^[j]is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for ^(AM)an imperishable crown. ²⁶ Therefore I run thus: ^(AN)not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ^27 (AO)But I discipline my body and ^(AP)bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become ^(AQ)disqualified.

The Untamable Tongue

3 My brethren, ^(A)let not many of you become teachers, ^(B)knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. ² For ^(C)we all stumble in many things. ^(D)If anyone does not stumble in word, ^(E)he is a ^[a]perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. ^3 [b]Indeed, ^(F)we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. ⁴ Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. ⁵ Even so ^(G)the tongue is a little member and ^(H)boasts great things.

See how great a forest a little fire kindles! ⁶ And ^(I)the tongue is a fire, a world of ^[c]iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it ^(J)defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of ^[d]nature; and it is set on fire by ^[e]hell. ⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. ⁸ But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, ^(K)full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made ^(L)in the ^[f]similitude of God. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? ¹² Can a ^(M)fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? ^[g]Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

Heavenly Versus Demonic Wisdom

^13 (N)Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have ^(O)bitter envy and ^[h]self-seeking in your hearts, ^(P)do not boast and lie against the truth. ^15 (Q)This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. ¹⁶ For ^(R)where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. ¹⁷ But ^(S)the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, ^(T)without partiality ^(U)and without hypocrisy. ^18 (V)Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.