MAT 7:15 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

UST 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.

BSB Beware of false prophets. [They] come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

BLB Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

AICNT “Beware [then][fn] of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

7:15, then: Some manuscripts include. W(032) BYZ TR

OEB ‘Beware of false teachers – people who come to you in the guise of sheep, but at heart they are ravenous wolves.

WEBBE “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.

LSV But take heed of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, and inwardly are ravenous wolves.

FBV Watch out for false prophets who come wearing sheep's clothing, but who on the inside are vicious wolves.

TCNT “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

T4T “Beware of people who come to you and say falsely that they are telling you what God has said. They seem to be harmless, but they are extremely harmful. They are like wolves that have covered themselves with sheepskins to make people believe that they are sheep [MET], but they actually are wolves that attack people [MET].

LEB ¶ “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves.

BBE Be on the watch for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are cruel wolves.

Moff Beware of false prophets; they come to you with the garb of sheep but at heart they are ravenous wolves.

Wymth "Beware of the false teachers—men who come to you in sheep's fleeces, but beneath that disguise they are ravenous wolves.

ASV Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.

DRA Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

YLT 'But, take heed of the false prophets, who come unto you in sheep's clothing, and inwardly are ravening wolves.

Drby But beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but within are ravening wolves.

RV Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.

SLT And hold from false prophets which come in to you in sheep’s dresses, but within they are rapacious wolves.

Wbstr Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

KJB-1769 ¶ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

KJB-1611 ¶ Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheepes clothing, but inwardly they are rauening wolues.
(¶ Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheepes clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.)

Bshps Beware of false prophetes, which come to you in sheepes clothyng: but inwardly they are rauenyng woolfes.
(Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheepes clothing: but inwardly they are ravening woolfes.)

Gnva Beware of false prophets, which come to you, in sheepes clothing, but inwardly they are rauening wolues.
(Beware of false prophets, which come to you, in sheepes clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. )

Cvdl Beware of false Prophetes, which come to you in shepes clothinge, but inwardly they are rauenynge wolues,
(Beware of false Prophetes, which come to you in shepes clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves,)

TNT Beware of false Prophetes which come to you in shepes clothinge but inwardly they are ravenynge wolves.
(Beware of false Prophets which come to you in shepes clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves. )

Wycl Be ye war of fals prophetis, that comen to you in clothingis of scheep, but withynneforth thei ben as wolues of raueyn;
(Be ye/you_all war of false prophets, that came to you in clothingis of sheep, but withinforth they been as wolves of ravin/plunder_or_prey;)

Luth Sehet euch vor vor den falschen Propheten, die in Schafskleidern zu euch kommen! Inwendig aber sind sie reißende Wölfe.
(Behold you before/in_front_of before/in_front_of the wrong/fake prophet(s), the in sheepskleidern to/for you coming! Inwendig but are they/she/them tear/snatchde wolves.)

ClVg Attendite a falsis prophetis, qui veniunt ad vos in vestimentis ovium, intrinsecus autem sunt lupi rapaces:[fn]
(Pay_attention from false prophets, who/which they_come to you(pl) in/into/on clothes sheep, internally/inwards however are wolves rapaces: )

7.15 Attendite. Cum dixisset arctam viam a paucis inveniri, ne forte sui implicarentur erroribus pseudo-prophetarum, adjecit: Attendite: Attendite. Quod supra latam portam dixit, falsos prophetas apertius dicit. Attendite. Licet hoc de omnibus qui aliud habitu et sermone, aliud opere ostendunt, possit accipi; tamen specialiter de hæreticis qui quadam pietatis veste tecti, venenato animo et intentione nocendi lupi sunt rapaces, vel exterius si copia datur persequendo, vel interius corrumpendo. Ad vos in vestimentis ovium. In conspectu hominum similes ministris justitiæ dum jejunant, orant, eleemosynas dant: sed non sunt eorum fructus, quia pro vitio eis reputatur. A fructibus eorum. HIER. Non a veste, sed ab operibus quod de manifestis, etc., usque ad sed non debent oves pelles suas deponere, etsi aliquando eis lupi se contegant.

7.15 Pay_attention. Since would_have_said arctam way/road from in_a_few I_foundri, not perhaps self implicarentur erroribus pseudo-of_the_prophets, added: Pay_attention: Pay_attention. That above latam the_gate he/she_said, falselys a_prophets more_openly he_says. Pay_attention. It’s_possible this from/about to_all who/which something_else dress and speech, something_else by_work they_show, can be_accepted; nevertheless specially from/about heretics who/which quadam of_piety dress tecti, poisonsto in_mind and intention nocendi wolves are rapaces, or outside when/but_if copia given persequendo, or inside corrumpendo. To you(pl) in/into/on clothes sheep. In in_sight of_men similar servants justice while yeyunant, orant, eleemosynas dant: but not/no are their fruit, because for spoil/with_fault to_them reputatur. From fruits their. HIER. Not/No from dress, but away works that from/about manifestis, etc., until to but not/no they_should sheep skins their_own deponere, even_though sometimes to_them wolves himself contegant.

UGNT προσέχετε ἀπὸ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσιν λύκοι ἅρπαγες.
(proseⱪete apo tōn pseudoprofaʸtōn, hoitines erⱪontai pros humas en endumasi probatōn, esōthen de eisin lukoi harpages.)

SBL-GNT ⸀Προσέχετε ἀπὸ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσιν λύκοι ἅρπαγες.
(⸀Proseⱪete apo tōn pseudoprofaʸtōn, hoitines erⱪontai pros humas en endumasi probatōn esōthen de eisin lukoi harpages.)

RP-GNT Προσέχετε δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασιν προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσιν λύκοι ἅρπαγες.
(Proseⱪete de apo tōn pseudoprofaʸtōn, hoitines erⱪontai pros humas en endumasin probatōn, esōthen de eisin lukoi harpages.)

TC-GNT Προσέχετε [fn]δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσι λύκοι ἅρπαγες.
(Proseⱪete de apo tōn pseudoprofaʸtōn, hoitines erⱪontai pros humas en endumasi probatōn, esōthen de eisi lukoi harpages. )

7:15 δε ¦ — CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:1–7:29: Jesus preached a sermon on a mountain

For many years, English versions and Christians have commonly referred to Matthew 5–7 as “The Sermon on the Mount.” In some translations, it may be helpful to include a heading for chapters 5–7 that is on a level above the section heading for 5:1–12.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Sermon on the Mountain

The sermon that Jesus preached on a mountain

Jesus taught people on the side of a mountain/hill

7:15a

Beware of false prophets.

¶ “Beware^(plur) of false prophets.
¶ Jesus continued, “Be careful of people who claim to be God’s prophets/spokesmen, but are liars.

Beware of: This phrase is a warning. Jesus warned his followers to be on guard against false prophets.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Be on your guard against (GNT)

Watch out for (NIV)

Be careful of (NCV)

false prophets: A false prophet is a person who claims to speak messages from God, but he did not really receive his messages from God. Such people are not real prophets.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

deceitful/lying prophetsBut this translation should not imply that they were truly God’s prophets but had lied about something else.

false religious teachers (JBP)

those who say they are prophets of God but/and whose teachings are lies

those who pretend to be spokesmen for God

In this context, the word prophets probably refers to all religious teachers. In some languages this phrase would refer to only those who call themselves prophets. If that is true in your language, you may want to use a more general word. For example:

false religious teachers (JBP)

See how you translated prophets in 4:14 and 5:12.

7:15b

They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

They come to you in sheep skins, but inside those sheepskins they are dangerous, hungry wolves.
They come to you pretending to be gentle. But they are dangerous. They are like wild dogs wearing sheep skins.

They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves: The phrases sheep’s clothing and ravenous wolves are metaphors.

Sheep are tame animals. The sheep represent things that are gentle and harmless.

The phrase sheep’s clothing refers to a skin from a sheep. It includes the hair/wool.

The word wolves refers to a kind of large, fierce, wild dog. The Greek word that the BSB translates as ravenous means “eager to attack and having a great desire to eat or take things from others.” The wolves represent danger.

In this metaphor, the wolves wear the skins of sheep in order to look like sheep. They do this to deceive other animals so that they can get near them and destroy them. In the same way, false prophets approach true believers and pretend to be one of them, but their teaching is dangerous.

Here are some other ways to translate these metaphors:

Keep the metaphors and explain the meaning in a footnote. Here is a sample footnote:
Wolves wearing the skins of sheep represents false prophets who pretend to be true believers. Just as wolves wearing sheep skins are deceitful and still dangerous, false prophets are deceitful. Their teachings are dangerous.
Translate the metaphors as similes and explain the meaning in the text. For example:
who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves (NLT)
They come to you looking gentle like sheep, but they are really dangerous like wolves. (NCV)
They come to you pretending to be gentle, but they are really dangerous. It is as if they were fierce wolves wearing sheep skins.

wolves: Those animals, wolves, only live in certain parts of the world. If you live in an area where there are no wolves, you can substitute a wild animal that destroys other animals. For example:

wild dogs

lions/hyenas

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσιν λύκοι ἅρπαγες

who ˓are˒_coming (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Προσέχετε ἀπό τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρός ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσίν λύκοι ἅρπαγες)

Here Jesus speaks of God’s people as if they were sheep. By the false prophets wearing sheep’s clothing, he means that the false prophets pretend to be part of God’s people. However, Jesus says that inwardly they are ravenous wolves. He means that they hurt and take advantage of God’s people, which is acting just like wolves that eat sheep. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea in simile form or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [who pretend to be part of your group, as if they were dressed in sheep’s clothing. However, inwardly they want to harm you, as if they were ravenous wolves]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων

in clothing ˱of˲_sheep

Here, the phrase sheep’s clothing refers to disguising oneself to look like a sheep. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [disguising themselves as sheep] or [pretending to be sheep]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

λύκοι ἅρπαγες

wolves swindling

When wolves are ravenous, they want to capture and eat other animals, such as sheep. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [hungry wolves] or [wolves on the hunt]

Parallel MAT 7:15

Section 5:1–7:29: Jesus preached a sermon on a mountain

7:15a

7:15b