Matthew 7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 7
Judging Others. 1 [a](A)“Stop judging,[b] that you may not be judged.(B) 2 For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.(C) 3 Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? 5 You hypocrite,[c] remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.
Pearls Before Swine. 6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs,[d] or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.(D)
The Answer to Prayers. 7 (E)“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.(F) 8 For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.(G) 9 Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread,[e] 10 or a snake when he asks for a fish? 11 If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.(H)
The Golden Rule. 12 [f]“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.(I) This is the law and the prophets.
The Narrow Gate. 13 [g]“Enter through the narrow gate;[h] for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.(J) 14 How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.
False Prophets.[i] 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.(K) 16 (L)By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So by their fruits you will know them.(M)
The True Disciple. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,[j] but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.(N) 22 Many will say to me on that day,(O) ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’(P) 23 Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you.[k] Depart from me, you evildoers.’(Q)
The Two Foundations. 24 [l]“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.(R) 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.(S) But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. 26 And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
28 [m]When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 [n](T)for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
Footnotes
- 7:1–12 In Mt 7:1 Matthew returns to the basic traditional material of the sermon (Lk 6:37–38, 41–42). The governing thought is the correspondence between conduct toward one’s fellows and God’s conduct toward the one so acting.
- 7:1 This is not a prohibition against recognizing the faults of others, which would be hardly compatible with Mt 7:5, 6 but against passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, forgetful of one’s own faults.
- 7:5 Hypocrite: the designation previously given to the scribes and Pharisees is here given to the Christian disciple who is concerned with the faults of another and ignores his own more serious offenses.
- 7:6 Dogs and swine were Jewish terms of contempt for Gentiles. This saying may originally have derived from a Jewish Christian community opposed to preaching the gospel (what is holy, pearls) to Gentiles. In the light of Mt 28:19 that can hardly be Matthew’s meaning. He may have taken the saying as applying to a Christian dealing with an obstinately impenitent fellow Christian (Mt 18:17).
- 7:9–10 There is a resemblance between a stone and a round loaf of bread and between a serpent and the scaleless fish called barbut.
- 7:12 See Lk 6:31. This saying, known since the eighteenth century as the “Golden Rule,” is found in both positive and negative form in pagan and Jewish sources, both earlier and later than the gospel. This is the law and the prophets is an addition probably due to the evangelist.
- 7:13–28 The final section of the discourse is composed of a series of antitheses, contrasting two kinds of life within the Christian community, that of those who obey the words of Jesus and that of those who do not. Most of the sayings are from Q and are found also in Luke.
- 7:13–14 The metaphor of the “two ways” was common in pagan philosophy and in the Old Testament. In Christian literature it is found also in the Didache (1–6) and the Epistle of Barnabas (18–20).
- 7:15–20 Christian disciples who claimed to speak in the name of God are called prophets (Mt 7:15) in Mt 10:41; Mt 23:34. They were presumably an important group within the church of Matthew. As in the case of the Old Testament prophets, there were both true and false ones, and for Matthew the difference could be recognized by the quality of their deeds, the fruits (Mt 7:16). The mention of fruits leads to the comparison with trees, some producing good fruit, others bad.
- 7:21–23 The attack on the false prophets is continued, but is broadened to include those disciples who perform works of healing and exorcism in the name of Jesus (Lord) but live evil lives. Entrance into the kingdom is only for those who do the will of the Father. On the day of judgment (on that day) the morally corrupt prophets and miracle workers will be rejected by Jesus.
- 7:23 I never knew you: cf. Mt 10:33. Depart from me, you evildoers: cf. Ps 6:9.
- 7:24–27 The conclusion of the discourse (cf. Lk 6:47–49). Here the relation is not between saying and doing as in Mt 7:15–23 but between hearing and doing, and the words of Jesus are applied to every Christian (everyone who listens).
- 7:28–29 When Jesus finished these words: this or a similar formula is used by Matthew to conclude each of the five great discourses of Jesus (cf. Mt 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1).
- 7:29 Not as their scribes: scribal instruction was a faithful handing down of the traditions of earlier teachers; Jesus’ teaching is based on his own authority. Their scribes: for the implications of their, see note on Mt 4:23.
Matthew 7
English Standard Version
Judging Others
7 (A)“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 (B)For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and (C)with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but (D)do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log 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 brother's eye.
6 (E)“Do not give (F)dogs what is holy, and do not throw your (G)pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Ask, and It Will Be Given
7 (H)“Ask, (I)and it will be given to you; (J)seek, and you will find; (K)knock, and it will be opened to 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 which one of you, if his son asks him for (L)bread, will give him (M)a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, (N)who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will (O)your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
The Golden Rule
12 “So (P)whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is (Q)the Law and the Prophets.
13 (R)“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and (S)the way is hard that leads to life, and (T)those who find it are few.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 (U)“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are (V)ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them (W)by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, (X)every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 (Y)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them (Z)by their fruits.
I Never Knew You
21 (AA)“Not everyone who (AB)says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will (AC)enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who (AD)does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 (AE)On that day (AF)many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not (AG)prophesy in your name, and cast out demons (AH)in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 (AI)And then will I declare to them, ‘I (AJ)never knew you; (AK)depart from me, (AL)you workers of lawlessness.’
Build Your House on the Rock
24 (AM)“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like (AN)a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like (AO)a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
The Authority of Jesus
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, (AP)the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 (AQ)for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
Footnotes
- Matthew 7:13 Some manuscripts For the way is wide and easy
Matteus 7
Svenska Folkbibeln
Flisan och bjälken
7 Döm inte, så blir ni inte dömda. 2 Ty med den dom ni dömer med, skall ni bli dömda, och med det mått ni mäter med, skall det mätas upp åt er. 3 Varför ser du flisan i din broders öga men märker inte bjälken i ditt eget öga? 4 Eller hur kan du säga till din broder: Låt mig ta bort flisan ur ditt öga, du som har en bjälke i ditt eget öga? 5 Du hycklare, ta först bort bjälken ur ditt eget öga! Då kommer du att se så klart att du kan ta ut flisan ur din broders öga.
Det heliga och hundarna
6 Ge inte det heliga åt hundarna och kasta inte era pärlor för svinen. De trampar ner dem och vänder sig om och sliter sönder er.
Bed och ni skall få
7 Bed och ni skall få, sök och ni skall finna, bulta och dörren skall öppnas för er. 8 Ty var och en som ber, han får, och den som söker, han finner, och för den som bultar skall dörren öppnas. 9 Vem bland er ger sin son en sten, när han ber om bröd, 10 eller en orm, när han ber om en fisk? 11 Om ni som är onda förstår att ge era barn goda gåvor, hur mycket mer skall då inte er Fader i himlen ge det som är gott åt dem som ber honom.
Den gyllene regeln
12 Därför, allt vad ni vill att människorna skall göra er, det skall ni också göra dem. Detta är lagen och profeterna.
De två vägarna
13 Gå in genom den trånga porten. Ty den port är vid, och den väg är bred som leder till fördärvet, och det är många som går fram på den. 14 Och den port är trång, och den väg är smal som leder till livet, och det är få som finner den.
15 Akta er för de falska profeterna, som kommer till er klädda som får men i sitt inre är rovlystna vargar. 16 På deras frukt skall ni känna igen dem. Inte plockar man väl vindruvor från törnbuskar eller fikon från tistlar? 17 Så bär varje gott träd god frukt, men ett dåligt träd bär dålig frukt. 18 Ett gott träd kan inte bära dålig frukt, inte heller kan ett dåligt träd bära god frukt. 19 Ett träd som inte bär god frukt blir nerhugget och kastat i elden. 20 Alltså skall ni känna igen dem på deras frukt. 21 Inte skall var och en som säger 'Herre, Herre' till mig komma in i himmelriket, utan den som gör min himmelske Faders vilja. 22 Många skall säga till mig på den dagen: Herre, Herre, har vi inte profeterat med hjälp av ditt namn[a] och med hjälp av ditt namn drivit ut onda andar och med hjälp av ditt namn gjort många kraftgärningar? 23 Men då skall jag säga dem sanningen: Jag har aldrig känt er. Gå bort ifrån mig, ni laglösa!
Liknelsen om de två husbyggarna
24 Den som därför hör dessa mina ord och handlar efter dem, han liknar en förståndig man som byggde sitt hus på klippan. 25 Regnet öste ner, störtfloden kom och vindarna blåste och kastade sig mot det huset. Men det föll inte, eftersom det var grundat på klippan. 26 Men den som hör dessa mina ord och inte handlar efter dem, han liknar en dåre som byggde sitt hus på sanden. 27 Regnet öste ner, störtfloden kom och vindarna blåste och slog mot det huset, och det föll samman, och dess fall var stort."
28 När Jesus hade avslutat detta tal, var människorna mycket förvånade över hans undervisning, 29 ty han undervisade dem med auktoritet och inte som deras skriftlärda.
Footnotes
- Matteus 7:22 med hjälp av ditt namn Jesus skiljer mellan de kraftgärningar som hans lärjungar utför "i hans (Jesu) namn", och sådant som sker med hjälp av Jesusnamnet som magisk formel (Apg 19:13, 19).
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