Matthew 7
7
Do Not Judge
1 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. #
Mk 4:24–25; Lk 6:37–42 2For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.#Mk 4:24; Lk 6:38; Rm 2:1; 14:10; Jms 2:13 3Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye?#Lk 6:41; Jn 8:7–9 4Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? 5Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. 6Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs,#Pr 9:7–8; 23:9; Mt 15:26 or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.
Ask, Search, Knock
7 “Ask, #
Lk 11:9–13
and it will be given to you.#Mt 18:22; Mk 11:24; Jn 14:13–14; 15:7; 16:24; Jms 1:5; 1Jn 3:22; 5:14 Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door#7:7 Lit and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds,#Pr 8:17; Is 55:6; Jr 29:12–13 and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you then, who are evil,#Gn 6:5; 8:21 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. 12Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.#Mt 22:40; Lk 6:31; Rm 13:8; Gl 5:14
Entering the Kingdom
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. #
Lk 13:23–24
For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,#Mt 26:8; Mk 14:4; Jn 17:12; Ac 8:20; Rm 9:22; Php 1:28 and there are many who go through it. 14How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
15 “Be on your guard against false prophets #
Mt 24:11,24; Mk 13:22; Lk 6:26; Ac 13:6; 2Pt 2:1 who come to you in sheep’s#Mt 9:36; 10:6,16; 12:11–12; 15:24; 18:12–13 clothing#Mc 3:5; 2Tm 3:5 but inwardly are ravaging wolves.#Ezk 22:27; Jn 10:12; Ac 20:29 16You’ll recognize them by their fruit.#Pr 11:30; Mt 12:33; Lk 6:43–44; Jn 4:36; Jms 3:12 Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?#Mt 13:7; Heb 6:8 17In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.#Jr 11:19; Mt 3:10; Lk 3:9; 13:7; Jn 15:2; Jd 12 20So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.#Mt 7:16; 12:33; Lk 6:44; Jms 3:12
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, #
Mt 3:2; 18:3; Mk 9:43 but only the one who does the will#Ps 143:10; Pr 16:9; Mt 12:50; Gl 1:4; Eph 1:9; 1Jn 2:17 of my Father in heaven.#Hs 8:2; Mt 25:11; Lk 6:46; Rm 2:13; Jms 1:22 22On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons#Mk 3:15; Rv 9:20; 18:2 in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ #Nm 24:4; Mt 10:15; Lk 13:25; Jn 11:51; 1Co 13:2 23Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’ #7:23 Lit you who work lawlessness#7:23 Ps 6:8#Ps 5:5; 6:8; Mt 25:12,41; Lk 13:25–27
The Two Foundations
24 “Therefore, #
Lk 6:47–49; Jms 1:22–25 everyone who hears these words#Mt 12:36; Mk 4:14; Lk 6:47; 8:21; Jn 1:1; 2:22 of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The 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. 26But 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. 27The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”
28When Jesus had finished saying these things,#Mt 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1 the crowds were astonished at his teaching,#Mt 13:54; 22:23; Mk 1:22; 6:2; 11:18; Lk 4:32; Jn 7:46 29because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.
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Matthew 7: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Matthew 7
7
A Simple Guide for Behavior
1-5“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
6“Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.
7-11“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?
12“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get.
Being and Doing
13-14“Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.
15-20“Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.
21-23“Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our super-spiritual projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’
24-25“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
26-27“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”
28-29When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.