Be Careful About Judging Others^(A)

7 “Don’t judge others, ·or you will [so that you will not] be judged. ² You will be judged in the same way that you judge others, and ·the amount you give to others will be given to you [or the standard you use for others will be the standard used for you; ^Lwith the measure you measure, it will be measured to you].

³ “Why do you notice the ·little piece of dust [speck; tiny splinter] in your ·friend’s [^Lbrother’s (or sister’s)] eye, but you don’t ·notice [consider] the ·big piece of wood [log; plank; beam] in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your ·friend [^Lbrother], ‘Let me take that ·little piece of dust [speck; splinter] out of your eye’? ·Look at yourself [^TBehold]! You still have that ·big piece of wood [log; plank; beam] in your own eye. ⁵ You hypocrite! First, take the ·wood [log; plank; beam] out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to take the ·dust [speck; splinter] out of your ·friend’s [^Lbrother’s] eye.

⁶ “Don’t give holy things to dogs, and don’t throw your pearls ·before [to] ·pigs [^Tswine]. ·Pigs will only trample on them, and dogs will turn to attack you [^LThey will trample them and turn to attack you; ^Cpigs were ritually unclean and dogs were considered scavengers].

Ask God for What You Need^(B)

⁷ “·Ask [Keep asking], and ·God will give [^Lit will be given; ^Cthe passive verb implies God as subject] to you. ·Search [Seek; Keep seeking], and you will find. ·Knock [Keep knocking], and the door will open for you. ⁸ ·Yes, [^LFor; Because] everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who ·searches [seeks] will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened.

⁹ “If your children ask for bread, which of you would give them a stone? ¹⁰ Or [^Lwhich of you] if your ·children ask [or son asks] for a fish, would you give them a snake? ¹¹ ·Even though you are bad, you [If you, being evil,] know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him!

The Most Important Rule^(C)

¹² “[So always; So in everything] ·Do to others what [Treat others as] you want them to ·do to [treat] you. This ·is [sums up; is the essence of] the ·meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets [^LLaw and the Prophets; ^Creferring to the OT].

The Way to Heaven Is Hard^(D)

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. [^LBecause] The gate is wide and the road is ·wide [broad; spacious; or easy] that leads to ·hell [^Ldestruction; ruin], and many people enter through that gate. ¹⁴ But the gate is small and the road is ·narrow [or difficult; hard] that leads to true life. ·Only a few people [And there are few who] find that road.

People Know You by Your Actions^(E)

¹⁵ “·Be careful of [Beware of; Watch out for] false prophets. They come to you ·looking gentle like sheep [disguised like sheep; ^Lin sheep’s clothing], but ·they are really dangerous like wolves [^Lunderneath/inwardly they are ravenous/vicious/ferocious wolves]. ¹⁶ You will know these people by ·what they do [^Ltheir fruit]. ·Grapes don’t come [^LCan you pick grapes…?] from thornbushes, ·and figs don’t come from [^Land figs from…?] ·thorny weeds [thistles]. ¹⁷ In the same way, every ·good [healthy; sound] tree produces good fruit, but a ·bad [rotten; diseased] tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A ·good [healthy; sound] tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a ·bad [rotten; diseased] tree cannot produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ In the same way, you will know ·these false prophets [^Lthem] by ·what they do [^Ltheir fruit].

²¹ “Not all those who say [^Lto me] ·‘You are our Lord’ [^L‘Lord! Lord!’] will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do ·what my Father in heaven wants [the will of my Father in heaven]. ²² On ·the last day [judgment day; ^Lthat day] many people will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, ·we spoke for you [^LDid we not prophesy in your name…?], and ·through you we forced out demons [^Lcast out demons in your name…?] and did many ·miracles [^Lmighty works in your name…?].’ ²³ Then I will ·tell them clearly [declare to them; publicly announce to them], ‘I never knew you. ·Get away [Depart] from me, you who ·do evil [break God’s law; practice lawlessness; Ps. 6:8].’

Two Kinds of People^(F)

²⁴ “Everyone who hears my words and ·obeys [acts on; practices] them is like a ·wise [sensible] man who built his house on rock. ²⁵ It rained hard, the ·floods came [rivers rose], and the winds blew and ·hit [beat; slammed against] that house. But it did not ·fall [collapse], because it was built on rock. ²⁶ Everyone who hears my words and does not ·obey [act on; practice] them is like a ·foolish [stupid] man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ It rained hard, the ·floods came [rivers rose], and the winds blew and ·hit [beat; slammed against] that house, and it ·fell [collapsed] with a big crash.”

²⁸ When Jesus finished ·saying these things [^Lthese words; ^Cthe end of the first of five major discourses in Matthew, all of which conclude with a similar phrase; see also 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1], the ·people [crowds] were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he did not teach like their ·teachers of the law [scribes]. He taught like a person who had authority.