Matthew 7–9

Be Careful About Judging Others

7“Don’t judge others, or you will be judged. ²You will be judged in the same way that you judge others, and the amount you give to others will be given to you.

³“Why do you notice the little piece of dust in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the big piece of wood in your own eye? ⁴How can you say to your friend, ‘Let me take that little piece of dust out of your eye’? Look at yourself! You still have that big piece of wood in your own eye. ⁵You hypocrite! First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your friend’s eye.

⁶“Don’t give holy things to dogs, and don’t throw your pearls before pigs. Pigs will only trample on them, and dogs will turn to attack you.

Ask God for What You Need

⁷“Ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you. ⁸Yes, everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches 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? ¹⁰Or if your children ask for a fish, would you give them a snake? ¹¹Even though you are bad, you 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

¹²“Do to others what you want them to do to you. This is the meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets.

The Way to Heaven Is Hard

¹³“Enter through the narrow gate. The gate is wide and the road is wide that leads to hell, and many people enter through that gate. ¹⁴But the gate is small and the road is narrow that leads to true life. Only a few people find that road.

People Know You by Your Actions

¹⁵“Be careful of false prophets. They come to you looking gentle like sheep, but they are really dangerous like wolves. ¹⁶You will know these people by what they do. Grapes don’t come from thornbushes, and figs don’t come from thorny weeds. ¹⁷In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰In the same way, you will know these false prophets by what they do.

²¹“Not all those who say ‘You are our Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. The only people who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do what my Father in heaven wants. ²²On the last day many people will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, we spoke for you, and through you we forced out demons and did many miracles.’ ²³Then I will tell them clearly, ‘Get away from me, you who do evil. I never knew you.’

Two Kinds of People

²⁴“Everyone who hears my words and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. ²⁵It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. ²⁶Everyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house, and it fell with a big crash.”

²⁸When Jesus finished saying these things, the people were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹because he did not teach like their teachers of the law. He taught like a person who had authority.

Jesus Heals a Sick Man

8When Jesus came down from the hill, great crowds followed him. ²Then a man with a skin disease came to Jesus. The man bowed down before him and said, “Lord, you can heal me if you will.”

³Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man and said, “I will. Be healed!” And immediately the man was healed from his disease. ⁴Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. But go and show yourself to the priest ⁿ and offer the gift Moses commanded ⁿ for people who are made well. This will show the people what I have done.”

Jesus Heals a Soldier’s Servant

⁵When Jesus entered the city of Capernaum, an army officer came to him, begging for help. ⁶The officer said, “Lord, my servant is at home in bed. He can’t move his body and is in much pain.”

⁷Jesus said to the officer, “I will go and heal him.”

⁸The officer answered, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come into my house. You only need to command it, and my servant will be healed. ⁹I, too, am a man under the authority of others, and I have soldiers under my command. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant does it.

¹⁰When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who were following him, “I tell you the truth, this is the greatest faith I have found, even in Israel. ¹¹Many people will come from the east and from the west and will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹²But those people who should be in the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.”

¹³Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home. Your servant will be healed just as you believed he would.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Jesus Heals Many People

¹⁴When Jesus went to Peter’s house, he saw that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever. ¹⁵Jesus touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she stood up and began to serve Jesus.

¹⁶That evening people brought to Jesus many who had demons. Jesus spoke and the demons left them, and he healed all the sick. ¹⁷He did these things to bring about what Isaiah the prophet had said:

“He took our suffering on him

and carried our diseases.”

People Want to Follow Jesus

¹⁸When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he told his followers to go to the other side of the lake. ¹⁹Then a teacher of the law came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, I will follow you any place you go.”

²⁰Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes to live in, and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest his head.”

²¹Another man, one of Jesus’ followers, said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

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

Jesus Calms a Storm

²³Jesus got into a boat, and his followers went with him. ²⁴A great storm arose on the lake so that waves covered the boat, but Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵His followers went to him and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We will drown!”

²⁶Jesus answered, “Why are you afraid? You don’t have enough faith.” Then Jesus got up and gave a command to the wind and the waves, and it became completely calm.

²⁷The men were amazed and said, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

²⁸When Jesus arrived at the other side of the lake in the area of the Gadarene ⁿ people, two men who had demons in them met him. These men lived in the burial caves and were so dangerous that people could not use the road by those caves. ²⁹They shouted, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us before the right time?”

³⁰Near that place there was a large herd of pigs feeding. ³¹The demons begged Jesus, “If you make us leave these men, please send us into that herd of pigs.”

³²Jesus said to them, “Go!” So the demons left the men and went into the pigs. Then the whole herd rushed down the hill into the lake and were drowned. ³³The herdsmen ran away and went into town, where they told about all of this and what had happened to the men who had demons. ³⁴Then the whole town went out to see Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their area.

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

9Jesus got into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. ²Some people brought to Jesus a man who was paralyzed and lying on a mat. When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralyzed man, “Be encouraged, young man. Your sins are forgiven.”

³Some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This man speaks as if he were God. That is blasphemy!” ⁿ

⁴Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil thoughts? ⁵Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up and walk’? ⁶But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up, take your mat, and go home.” ⁷And the man stood up and went home. ⁸When the people saw this, they were amazed and praised God for giving power like this to human beings.

Jesus Chooses Matthew

⁹When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁰As Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with Jesus and his followers. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹²When Jesus heard them, he said, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means: ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’ ⁿ I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.”

Jesus’ Followers Are Criticized

¹⁴Then the followers of John ⁿ came to Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees often fast ⁿ for a certain time, but your followers don’t?”

¹⁵Jesus answered, “The friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth over a hole in an old coat. If he does, the patch will shrink and pull away from the coat, making the hole worse. ¹⁷Also, people never pour new wine into old leather bags. Otherwise, the bags will break, the wine will spill, and the wine bags will be ruined. But people always pour new wine into new wine bags. Then both will continue to be good.”

Jesus Gives Life to a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

¹⁸While Jesus was saying these things, a leader…