Matthew 7

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 29 verses.

Codex Sinaiticus (AD 330–360), Matthew 7:27–8:28

In the King James Version this chapter reads:

¹Judge not, that ye be not judged. ²For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. ³And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? ⁴Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye? ⁵Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. ⁶Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

⁷Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: ⁸For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. ⁹Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? ¹¹If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? ¹²Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

¹³Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: ¹⁴Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

¹⁵Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. ¹⁶Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? ¹⁷Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

²⁰Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. ²¹Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

²⁴Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:.²⁵And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ²⁶And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ²⁷And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

²⁸And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: ²⁹For he taught them as [one] having authority, and not as the scribes.

In John Wesley's analysis of the Sermon on the Mount, chapter five outlines "the sum of all true religion", allowing chapter six to detail "rules for that right intention which we are to preserve in all our outward actions, unmixed with worldly desires or anxious cares for even the necessaries of life" and this chapter to provide "cautions against the main hinderances of religion".[1] Within the chapter there are several themes, with verses 1–12 dealing with judging and discernment.[2] Matthew 7:1-5 relates the guidance on The Mote and the Beam, which has a parallel in Luke 6:37-42.[3] At Matthew 7:7 Jesus returns to the subject of prayer, promising that God will respond to prayer. Verses 7:13 and 14 contain the analogy of the broad and narrow roads, a warning of the ease of slipping into damnation. Verse 7:15 continues the warnings about judgment and adds a caution about false prophets by repeating some of the language used by John the Baptist in chapter 3.

The chapter ends with the Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders in Matthew 7:24–27, which has a parallel in Luke 6:46–49.

According to Anglican Bishop Charles Ellicott, in comparison with the preceding chapters, "this [chapter] deals chiefly with the temptations incident to the more advanced stages of [Christian] life when lower forms of evil have been overcome— with the temper that judges others, the self-deceit of unconscious hypocrisy, the danger of unreality".[4]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gospel of Matthew - Chapter 7.

• Matthew 7, King James Bible at Wikisource
• English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
• Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
• Multiple bible versions at BibleGateway.com (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)