Matthew 7
7
Be Fair When You Judge Other People
1“Do not judge other people. Then you will not be judged. 2You will be judged in the same way you judge others. You will be measured in the same way you measure others.
3“You look at the bit of sawdust in your friend’s eye. But you pay no attention to the piece of wood in your own eye. 4How can you say to your friend, ‘Let me take the bit of sawdust out of your eye’? How can you say this while there is a piece of wood in your own eye? 5You pretender! First take the piece of wood out of your own eye. Then you will be able to see clearly to take the bit of sawdust out of your friend’s eye.
6“Do not give holy things to dogs. Do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they might walk all over them. They might turn around and tear you to pieces.
Ask, Search, Knock
7“Ask, and it will be given to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find. The door will be opened to the one who knocks.
9“Suppose your son asks for bread. Which of you will give him a stone? 10Or suppose he asks for a fish. Which of you will give him a snake? 11Even though you are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12In everything, do to others what you would want them to do to you. This is what is written in the Law and in the Prophets.
The Large and Small Gates
13“Enter God’s kingdom through the narrow gate. The gate is large and the road is wide that leads to ruin. Many people go that way. 14But the gate is small and the road is narrow that leads to life. Only a few people find it.
True and False Prophets
15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you pretending to be sheep. But on the inside they are hungry wolves. 16You can tell each tree by its fruit. Do people pick grapes from bushes? Do they pick figs from thorns? 17In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit. But a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree can’t bear bad fruit. And a bad tree can’t bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down. It is thrown into the fire. 20You can tell each tree by its fruit.
True and False Disciples
21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do what my Father in heaven wants will enter. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord! Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we drive out demons in your name? Didn’t we do many miracles in your name?’ 23Then I will tell them clearly, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who do evil!’
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24“So then, everyone who hears my words and puts them into practice is like a wise man. He builds his house on the rock. 25The rain comes down. The water rises. The winds blow and beat against that house. But it does not fall. It is built on the rock. 26But everyone who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man. He builds his house on sand. 27The rain comes down. The water rises. The winds blow and beat against that house. And it falls with a loud crash.”
28Jesus finished saying all these things. The crowds were amazed at his teaching. 29That’s because he taught like one who had authority. He did not speak like their teachers of the law.
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Matthew 7: NIrV
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Matthew 7
7
Judging Others. 1#In Mt 7:1 Matthew returns to the basic traditional material of the sermon (Lk 6:37–38, 41–42). The governing thought is the correspondence between conduct toward one’s fellows and God’s conduct toward the one so acting. #Lk 6:37–38, 41–42. “Stop judging,#This is not a prohibition against recognizing the faults of others, which would be hardly compatible with Mt 7:5, 6 but against passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, forgetful of one’s own faults. that you may not be judged.#Rom 2:1–2; 1 Cor 4:5. 2For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.#Wis 12:22; Mk 4:24. 3Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? 5You hypocrite,#Hypocrite: the designation previously given to the scribes and Pharisees is here given to the Christian disciple who is concerned with the faults of another and ignores his own more serious offenses. remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.
Pearls Before Swine. 6“Do not give what is holy to dogs,#Dogs and swine were Jewish terms of contempt for Gentiles. This saying may originally have derived from a Jewish Christian community opposed to preaching the gospel (what is holy, pearls) to Gentiles. In the light of Mt 28:19 that can hardly be Matthew’s meaning. He may have taken the saying as applying to a Christian dealing with an obstinately impenitent fellow Christian (Mt 18:17). or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.#Prv 23:9.
The Answer to Prayers. 7#Mk 11:24; Lk 11:9–13. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.#18:19. 8For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.#Lk 18:1–8; Jn 14:13. 9Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread,#There is a resemblance between a stone and a round loaf of bread and between a serpent and the scaleless fish called barbut. 10or a snake when he asks for a fish? 11If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.#1 Jn 5:14–15.
The Golden Rule. 12#See Lk 6:31. This saying, known since the eighteenth century as the “Golden Rule,” is found in both positive and negative form in pagan and Jewish sources, both earlier and later than the gospel. This is the law and the prophets is an addition probably due to the evangelist. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.#Lk 6:31. This is the law and the prophets.
The Narrow Gate. 13#The final section of the discourse is composed of a series of antitheses, contrasting two kinds of life within the Christian community, that of those who obey the words of Jesus and that of those who do not. Most of the sayings are from Q and are found also in Luke. “Enter through the narrow gate;#The metaphor of the “two ways” was common in pagan philosophy and in the Old Testament. In Christian literature it is found also in the Didache (1–6) and the Epistle of Barnabas (18–20). for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.#Lk 13:24. 14How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.
False Prophets.#Christian disciples who claimed to speak in the name of God are called prophets (Mt 7:15) in Mt 10:41; Mt 23:34. They were presumably an important group within the church of Matthew. As in the case of the Old Testament prophets, there were both true and false ones, and for Matthew the difference could be recognized by the quality of their deeds, the fruits (Mt 7:16). The mention of fruits leads to the comparison with trees, some producing good fruit, others bad. 15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.#2 Pt 2:1. 16#12:33; Lk 6:43–44. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 20So by their fruits you will know them.#3:10.
The True Disciple. 21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,#The attack on the false prophets is continued, but is broadened to include those disciples who perform works of healing and exorcism in the name of Jesus (Lord) but live evil lives. Entrance into the kingdom is only for those who do the will of the Father. On the day of judgment (on that day) the morally corrupt prophets and miracle workers will be rejected by Jesus. but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.#Is 29:13; Lk 6:46. 22Many will say to me on that day,#Lk 13:26–27. ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’#25:11–12. 23Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you.#I never knew you: cf. Mt 10:33. Depart from me, you evildoers: cf. Ps 6:9. Depart from me, you evildoers.’#Ps 5:5; 6:9.
The Two Foundations. 24#The conclusion of the discourse (cf. Lk 6:47–49). Here the relation is not between saying and doing as in Mt 7:15–23 but between hearing and doing, and the words of Jesus are applied to every Christian (everyone who listens). “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.#Lk 6:47–49. 25The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.#Prv 10:25. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. 26And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. 27The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
28#When Jesus finished these words: this or a similar formula is used by Matthew to conclude each of the five great discourses of Jesus (cf. Mt 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29#Not as their scribes: scribal instruction was a faithful handing down of the traditions of earlier teachers; Jesus’ teaching is based on his own authority. Their scribes: for the implications of their, see note on Mt 4:23. #Mk 1:22; Lk 4:32. for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
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