Matthew 7:16–29

¹⁶You will recognize them by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they?^{b 17}In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree is not able to produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree to produce good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰As a result, you will recognize them by their fruits.

The Sermon on the Mount: False Followers

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many miracles in your name?’ ²³And then I will say to them plainly,^c ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’

The Sermon on the Mount: Two Houses and Two Foundations

²⁴“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not collapse, because its foundation was laid on the rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed, and its fall was great.”

The Sermon on the Mount: Response

²⁸And it happened when Jesus finished these words the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.