< Matthew 7 >
1 “Do not talk about how sinfully others have acted, in order that God will not say how sinfully you have acted.
2 If you condemn [other people], [God] will condemn you. To the same extent that you condemn others, you will be condemned {[God] will condemn you}.
3 (None of you should be concerned [about someone else’s small faults] [MET]!/Why should any of you be concerned [about someone else’s small faults]?) [MET, RHQ] [That would be like noticing] a speck in that person’s eye. But you should [be concerned about your own big faults. They are like] [MET] planks in your own eye, which you do not notice.
4 (You should not say to other people [about their minor faults], ‘Let me remove the specks from your eyes!’/Why do you say to other people [about their minor faults], ‘Let me remove the specks from your eyes?’) [RHQ] [You should not say that] if a plank is still in your own eye [MET].
5 You hypocrite, [stop committing your own sins! That will be like] removing the plank from your own eye [MET]. Then, as a result, you will be able to perceive things spiritually so that you can help other people get rid of the [faults] [MET] [that are like] specks in their eyes.”
6 “You do not give holy things to dogs [that would ignore those things] and attack you [CHI]. You do not throw pearls in front of hogs, [because they would just ignore them] and trample them. [Similarly], do not give [precious spiritual truth to people you know will not value it but instead will do evil things to you].”
7 “Keep asking [God for what you need]. If you do that, [he] will give it to you. Confidently keep [expecting God to give you the things that you need, and he will give them to you. It will be like] [MET] looking for what you need and finding it. Keep on [praying persistently to God. Then God will answer you. It will be like] [MET] knocking [on a door in order to enter a room]. And the way will be opened {[God] will open the way} for you [to get what you pray for].
8 Remember that [God] will give things to everyone who continues to ask [him for them]. [He] will give things to whoever confidently keeps asking. [He] will open [the way] for people [to get the things that they keep persistently praying for].
9 (No man among you would give a stone to his son if his son were to ask for bread./Would anyone among you give a stone to his son if his son were to ask for bread?) [RHQ]
10 Likewise, (no man would give a [poisonous] snake to his son if his son would ask for a fish./would anyone give a [poisonous] snake to his son if his son would ask for a fish?) [RHQ]
11 You, who are evil, know how to give good things to your children. So [God], your Father who is in heaven, will certainly give good things to the people who ask him.”
12 “So in whatever way you want others to act toward you [(pl)], that is the way you [(pl)] should act toward them, because that [sums up what Moses wrote in] the laws [that God gave him] and [also what] the prophets [wrote long ago].”
13 “[Going to] where people live eternally [with God in heaven] is difficult. [It is like] going along a narrow road [PRS, MET] that leads to a narrow gate. Not many people find that way. [The way] that most [people take] is easy, [but it results in their being punished] {[God punishing them]} [in hell. That way is like a] wide road that people walk on [PRS, MET] until they reach the wide gate, but that road and that gate lead to where [they] will be destroyed {[God] will destroy them}. Many people enter that gate. So I [am telling you to leave the wide road and] enter the narrow gate [to heaven].” ()
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15 “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].
16 [So how will you know that they are false?] Well, by seeing what plants produce, you know [what kind of plants] they are [MET]. [For example, thornbushes cannot produce grapes], so (no one can pick grapes from thornbushes./can anyone pick grapes from thornbushes?) [RHQ] And [thistles cannot produce figs], so (no one can pick figs from thistles./can anyone pick figs from thistles?) [RHQ]
17 [Here is another example]: All good fruit trees produce good fruit, but all unhealthy trees produce worthless fruit.
18 No good fruit tree is able to produce worthless fruit, and no unhealthy tree is able to produce good fruit.
19 [And] all the trees that do not produce good fruit are chopped down and burned in a fire {people chop them down and burn them in a fire} [to get rid of them]. [Similarly], those who falsely claim to be prophets [will be thrown] {[God will throw false prophets]} [into the fires of hell]. ()
20 By seeing [what plants] produce, you know [what kind of plants] they are. [Similarly, when you see what the people who come to you do], [you will know if they are false prophets].”
21 “[Even though many] people [habitually] call me ‘Lord’, [pretending that they have my authority], some of them will not go to heaven where God rules, [because they do not do what he desires]. [Only] those people who do what my Father, who is in heaven, desires [will go there].
22 On the day [MTY] [that God judges everyone], many [people, trying to tell me that they deserve to go to heaven], will say to me, ‘Lord, we(exc) spoke God’s message as your representatives [MTY, RHQ]! As your representatives we(exc) expelled demons from [people] [RHQ]! And as your representatives, many times we(exc) performed miracles [RHQ]!’
23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I have never said that you belonged to me. Go away from me, you who do what is evil!’”
24 “So then, anyone who hears what I say and does what I command, will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
25 [Even though] the rain came down and the river flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house, it did not fall down because it had been built {he built it} on a solid foundation.
26 On the other hand, anyone who hears what I say but does not obey what I say will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
27 When the rain fell and the rivers flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house, it crashed down and broke completely apart, [because it was built on the sand. So it is important for you to obey what I teach you].”
28 When Jesus finished saying all those things, the [who had been listening to him were] amazed at the [new] teaching that he had taught them.
29 The reason they were amazed was that he was teaching as a person does who has authority. He was not teaching like the men who taught the [Jewish] laws, [who just repeated what other people had taught them].
