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⌂ ← MAT 7:1–7:29 → ║ ═ ©

The Gospel of Matthew 7

7 Do not harshly criticize other people. That way, God will not harshly criticize you. 2 I say that because God will harshly criticize you in the same way that you harshly criticize others. In fact, God will treat you in the same way that you treat others. 3 None of you should concentrate on the small faults of another person. You should concentrate on your own serious faults. Otherwise, that would be like noticing a speck in the eye of that person while not noticing a huge wooden plank in your own eye. 4 You should not tell another believer, ‘Let me help you correct your faults,’ while you have not yet dealt with your own faults. 5 If you do that, you are a hypocrite! You should first stop committing your own sins. That will be like removing a large plank from your own eye. Then, as a result, you will have the spiritual insight you need to help others get rid of the smaller faults that are like little specks in their eyes.

6 Apply this saying to how you live: do not present sacred things to dogs, and do not put valuable things in front of pigs. I say that because the pigs will crush your valuable things, and the dogs will destroy the sacred things and then attack you.

7 Keep asking God for the things you need, and he will give them to you. Keep seeking those things from God, and you will receive them. Ask God to make things possible for you, and he will act on your behalf. 8 You should do those things because everyone who keeps asking God for the things they need will receive them. Everyone who seeks those things from God will receive them. If people ask God to make things possible for them, God will act on their behalf.

9 Suppose one of you had a child who asked you for bread to eat. You certainly would not give your child a rock to eat! 10 Similarly, suppose that your child asked you for a fish to eat. You certainly would not give your child a poisonous snake to eat! 11 So, even though you people are sinful, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. Therefore, it is even more certain that God your Father, who rules from heaven, will give good things to those who ask him.

12 In conclusion, in whatever way you want others to act toward you, that is the way you should act toward them. Then, you will be doing what it says in all the parts of the Scriptures.

13-14 13-14When you choose how to live, you are like a traveler choosing which path to take. There is an easy path and a large gate, and many people go that way. However, if you go that way, God will punish you. There is also a hard path and a small gate, and only a few people go that way. You should use that small gate, because that is how you will truly live.

15 Watch out for people who lie when they claim to speak messages from God. They may look like they are part of God’s people, but really they want to hurt God’s people. 16 You can tell what people are really like by the things that they do. So, people are like plants in this way. A bush with thorns does not produce grapes. A thorny plant does not produce figs. 17 Similarly, all healthy fruit trees produce fruit that is good to eat. All unhealthy fruit trees produce fruit that is bad to eat. 18 Healthy fruit trees cannot produce fruit that is bad to eat. Unhealthy fruit trees cannot produce fruit that is good to eat. 19 People chop down every tree that does not produce fruit that is good to eat. Then, they burn those trees for fuel. In the same way, God will punish everyone who does not do what is right. 20 Therefore, you can tell if a plant is healthy or unhealthy by what kind of fruit it produces. In the same way, you can tell what people are really like by the things that they do.

21 Just calling me your Lord is not enough for you to participate in God’s heavenly kingdom. Rather, you need to do what God my Father, who rules from heaven, wants you to do. 22 On the day when God will judge everyone, many people will tell me, ‘Our Lord, we represented you when we proclaimed what God says! We represented you when we drove evil spiritual beings out of people! We represented you when we did many powerful things!’ 23 I will then respond to them, ‘You were never part of my people. You do what is wrong. Leave me!’ ”

24 So, all people who hear my teachings and obey them are like wise people who construct their homes on top of solid rock. 25 There may be heavy rain, and there may be floods, and there may be strong winds that buffet those homes. However, they will not collapse. That is because the wise people constructed them on top of solid rock. 26 However, all people who hear my teachings and do not obey them are like foolish people who construct their homes on top of shifting sand. 27 There may be heavy rain, and there may be floods, and there may be strong winds that buffet those homes. Then, they will collapse completely.”

28 When Jesus finished teaching, the large groups of people who had listened to him felt amazed at the way he taught. 29 They felt amazed because he did not teach as the teachers of the Jewish law did. Rather, he taught them like someone whom God had authorized to do so.

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