Matthew 7:1–9:38

DO NOT JUDGE

7 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.s 2 For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.t 3 Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye?u 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. 6 Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs,v or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

ASK, SEARCH, KNOCK

7 “Ask,w and it will be given to you.x Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the doorC will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds,y and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil,z know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him. 12 Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.aa

ENTERING THE KINGDOM

13 “Enter through the narrow gate.a For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,b and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

15 “Be on your guard against false prophetsc who come to you in sheep’sd clothinge but inwardly are ravaging wolves.f 16 You’ll recognize them by their fruit.g Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?h 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.i 20 So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.j

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,k but only the one who does the willl of my Father in heaven.m 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demonsn in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’o 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’A,B,p

THE TWO FOUNDATIONS

24 “Therefore,q everyone who hears these wordsr of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things,s the crowds were astonished at his teaching,t 29 because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.

A MAN CLEANSED

8 When he came down from the mountain, large crowdsu followed him. 2 Right awayv a man with leprosy* came up and knelt before him,w saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

3 Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone;x but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”y

A CENTURION’S FAITH

5 When he entered Capernaum,z a centurion came to him, pleading with him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”

7 He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?”D

8 “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.aa 9 For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command.E I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

10 Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith. 11 I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquetA with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.ab 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”ac 13 Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed,ad let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.B

HEALINGS AT CAPERNAUM

14 Jesus went into Peter’s houseae and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 So he touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve him. 16 When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spiritsaf with a word and healed all who were sick,ag 17 so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

He himself took our weaknesses

and carried our diseases.C,ah

THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS

18 When Jesus saw a large crowdD,a around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. 19 A scribe approached him and said,b “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

20 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Manc has no place to lay his head.”

21 “Lord,” another of his disciples said, “first let me go bury my father.”

22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

WIND AND WAVES OBEY JESUS

23 As he got into the boat,d his disciplese followed him. 24 Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. 25 So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”

26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea,f and there was a great calm.

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obeyg him!”

DEMONS DRIVEN OUT BY JESUS

28 When he had come to the other side,h to the region of the Gadarenes,E two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us,F Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”i

30 A long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 “If you drive us out,” the demons begged him, “send us into the herd of pigs.”

32 “Go!” he told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. 33 Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed. 34 At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.j

THE SON OF MAN FORGIVES AND HEALS

9 So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town.k 2 Just thenl some menA brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”m

3 At this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “He’s blaspheming!”n

4 Perceiving their thoughts,o Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?B 5 For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he told the paralytic, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 7 So he got up and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this, they were awestruckC,D and gave gloryp to God, who had given such authority to men.

THE CALL OF MATTHEW

9 As Jesus went on from there,q he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.r

10 While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples.s 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”t

12 Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick.u 13 Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.E,v For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”F

A QUESTION ABOUT FASTING

14 Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”w

15 Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guestsG be sad while the groom is with them? The timeH will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse. 17 And no one putsI new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

A GIRL RESTORED AND A WOMAN HEALED

18 As he was telling them these things,a suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before him, saying, “My daughter just died,J but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”b 19 So Jesus and his disciples got up and followedc him.

20 Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years approached from behind and touched the end of his robe,d 21 for she said to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I’ll be made well.”K,e

22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Have courage, daughter,” he said. “Your faith has saved you.”A,f And the woman was made well from that moment.B

23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house, he saw the …