Matthew 7

Do not judge

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.a ²For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.b ³“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?c

⁴How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? ⁵Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.d ⁶“Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.e

Ask, seek, knock

⁷“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.f ⁸For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.g ⁹“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?h

¹⁰Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! ¹¹So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.i ¹²“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.j

The narrow gate

¹³“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.k ¹⁴But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.l

By their fruits you will know them

¹⁵“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.m ¹⁶You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?n ¹⁷A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.o

¹⁸A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.p ¹⁹So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.q ²⁰Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.r

²¹“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.s ²²On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’t ²³But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’u

The two builders

²⁴“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.v ²⁵Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.w ²⁶But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.x

²⁷When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”y

The crowds are amazed

²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,z ²⁹for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.