Mattithyahu (Matthew) 7
7
1“Do not judge, lest you be judged.
2“For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with the same measure you use, it shall be measured to you.
3“And why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the plank in your own eye?
4“Or how is it that you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the splinter out of your eye,’ and see, a plank is in your own eye?
5“Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to remove the splinter out of your brother’s eye.
6“Do not give what is set-apart to the dogs, nor throw your pearls before the pigs, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
7“Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.
8“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.
9“Or is there a man among you who, if his son asks for bread, shall give him a stone?
10“Or if he asks for a fish, shall he give him a snake?
11“If you then, being wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in the heavens give what is good to those who ask Him!
12“Therefore, whatever you wish men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Torah and the Prophets.
13“Enter in through the narrow gate! Because the gate is wide – and the way is broad – that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter in through it.
14“Because the gate is narrow and the way is hard pressed#Or the way is afflicted. which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15“But beware of the false prophets,#See also Mat. 7:23 who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are savage wolves.
16“By their fruits you shall know them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
17“So every good tree yields good fruit, but a rotten tree yields wicked fruit.
18“A good tree is unable to yield wicked fruit, and a rotten tree to yield good fruit.
19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20“So then, by their fruits you shall know them –
21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens.
22“Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’
23“And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’# Psa. 6:8#See also Mat. 7:15; Mat. 13:41, 42
24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does them, shall be like a wise man who built his house on the rock,
25“and the rain came down, and 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“And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not do them,#See also Mat. 7:15; Mat. 13:41, 42 shall be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand,
27and the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.”
28And it came to be, when יהושע had ended these words, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
29for He was teaching them as one possessing authority, and not as the scribes.
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Mattithyahu (Matthew) 7: TS2009
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Copyright© 1993 – 2015 by the Institute for Scripture Research (ISR). All rights reserved.
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.