Matthew 7
7
1‘Judge not, that ye may not be judged,
2for in what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and in what measure ye measure, it shall be measured to you.
3‘And why dost thou behold the mote that [is] in thy brother's eye, and the beam that [is] in thine own eye dost not consider?
4or, how wilt thou say to thy brother, Suffer I may cast out the mote from thine eye, and lo, the beam [is] in thine own eye?
5Hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
6‘Ye may not give that which is [holy] to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before the swine, that they may not trample them among their feet, and having turned — may rend you.
7‘Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you;
8for every one who is asking doth receive, and he who is seeking doth find, and to him who is knocking it shall be opened.
9‘Or what man is of you, of whom, if his son may ask a loaf — a stone will he present to him?
10and if a fish he may ask — a serpent will he present to him?
11if, therefore, ye being evil, have known good gifts to give to your children, how much more shall your Father who [is] in the heavens give good things to those asking him?
12‘All things, therefore, whatever ye may will that men may be doing to you, so also do to them, for this is the law and the prophets.
13‘Go ye in through the strait gate, because wide [is] the gate, and broad the way that is leading to the destruction, and many are those going in through it;
14how strait [is] the gate, and compressed the way that is leading to the life, and few are those finding it!
15‘But, take heed of the false prophets, who come unto you in sheep's clothing, and inwardly are ravening wolves.
16From their fruits ye shall know them; do [men] gather from thorns grapes? or from thistles figs?
17so every good tree doth yield good fruits, but the bad tree doth yield evil fruits.
18A good tree is not able to yield evil fruits, nor a bad tree to yield good fruits.
19Every tree not yielding good fruit is cut down and is cast to fire:
20therefore from their fruits ye shall know them.
21‘Not every one who is saying to me Lord, lord, shall come into the reign of the heavens; but he who is doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens.
22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, lord, have we not in thy name prophesied? and in thy name cast out demons? and in thy name done many mighty things?
23and then I will acknowledge to them, that — I never knew you, depart from me ye who are working lawlessness.
24‘Therefore, every one who doth hear of me these words, and doth do them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock;
25and the rain did descend, and the streams came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and it fell not, for it had been founded on the rock.
26‘And every one who is hearing of me these words, and is not doing them, shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand;
27and the rain did descend, and the streams came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and it fell, and its fall was great.’
28And it came to pass, when Jesus ended these words, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching,
29for he was teaching them as having authority, and not as the scribes.
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Matthew 7: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
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.