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Matthew 7
Holman Christian Standard Bible

Do Not Judge

7 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.(A) 2 For with the judgment you use,[a] you will be judged, and with the measure you use,[b] it will be measured to you.(B) 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye?(C) 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs,(D) or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

Keep Asking, Searching, Knocking

7 “Keep asking,[c](E) and it will be given to you.(F) Keep searching,[d] and you will find. Keep knocking,[e] and the door[f] will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds,(G) and to the one who knocks, the door[g] will be opened. 9 What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil,(H) 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! 12 Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them—this is the Law and the Prophets.[h](I)

Entering the Kingdom

13 “Enter through the narrow gate.(J) For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction,(K) and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

15 “Beware of false prophets(L) who come to you in sheep’s(M) clothing(N) but inwardly are ravaging wolves.(O) 16 You’ll recognize them by their fruit.(P) Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?(Q) 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.(R) 20 So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.(S)

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,(T) but only the one who does the will(U) of My Father in heaven.(V) 22 On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons(W) in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’(X) 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’[i](Y)[j]

The Two Foundations

24 “Therefore,(Z) everyone who hears these words(AA) of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. And its collapse was great!”

28 When Jesus had finished this sermon,[k](AB) the crowds were astonished at His teaching,(AC) 29 because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 7:2 Lit you judge
  2. Matthew 7:2 Lit you measure
  3. Matthew 7:7 Or Ask
  4. Matthew 7:7 Or Search
  5. Matthew 7:7 Or Knock
  6. Matthew 7:7 Lit and it
  7. Matthew 7:8 Lit knocks, it
  8. Matthew 7:12 When capitalized, the Law and the Prophets = the OT
  9. Matthew 7:23 Lit you who work lawlessness
  10. Matthew 7:23 Ps 6:8
  11. Matthew 7:28 Lit had ended these words
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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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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).
  5. 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.
  6. 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. 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.
  8. 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).
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 7:23 I never knew you: cf. Mt 10:33. Depart from me, you evildoers: cf. Ps 6:9.
  12. 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).
  13. 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).
  14. 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.
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Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.