Matthew 7
7
Judging Others
(Luke 6.37,38,41,42)
1Don't condemn others, and God won't condemn you. 2#Mk 4.24. God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.
3You can see the speck in your friend's eye, but you don't notice the log in your own eye. 4How can you say, “My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you don't see the log in your own eye? 5You're nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend's eye.
6Don't give to dogs what belongs to God. They will only turn and attack you. Don't throw pearls down in front of pigs. They will trample all over them.
Ask, Search, Knock
(Luke 11.9-13)
7 #
2 Esd 2.13. Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.
9Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? 10Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? 11As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.
12 #
Tb 4.15; Lk 6.31. Treat others as you want them to treat you. This is what the Law and the Prophets#7.12 the Law and the Prophets: See the note at 5.17. are all about.
The Narrow Gate
(Luke 13.24)
13 #
Si 15.16,17. Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. 14But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.
A Tree and Its Fruit
(Luke 6.43-45)
15Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. 16#Si 27.6. You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. 17A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. 19#Mt 3.10; Lk 3.9. Every tree producing bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. 20#Mt 12.33. You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds.
A Warning
(Luke 13.26,27)
21Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in. 22On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, “We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.” 23#Ps 6.8. But I will tell them, “I will have nothing to do with you! Get out of my sight, you evil people!”
Two Builders
(Luke 6.47-49)
24Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. 25Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it was built on solid rock, and so it did not fall.
26Anyone who hears my teachings and doesn't obey them is like a foolish person who built a house on sand. 27Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house. Finally, it fell with a crash.
28 #
Mk 1.22; Lk 4.32. When Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were surprised at his teaching. 29He taught them like someone with authority, and not like their teachers of the Law of Moses.
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Matthew 7: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Matthew 7
7
Judging Others
1“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's#7.3 Gk brother's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4Or how can you say to your neighbor,#7.4 Gk brother ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's#7.5 Gk brother's eye.
Profaning the Holy
6“Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.
Ask, Search, Knock
7“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? 10Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? 11If you then, who are evil, 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!
The Golden Rule
12“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.
The Narrow Gate
13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy#7.13 Other ancient authorities read for the road is wide and easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will know them by their fruits.
Concerning Self-Deception
21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ 23Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’
Hearers and Doers
24“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”
28Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, 29for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.