Matthew 7–9

Judging Others

⁷“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.^{* 2}For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. ³Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

Profaning the Holy

⁶“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.^*

Ask, Search, Knock

⁷“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.^{* 8}For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.^{* 9}Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? ¹⁰Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? ¹¹If you, then, who are evil, 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!

The Golden Rule

¹²“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.^*

The Narrow Gate

¹³“Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy^h that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.^{* 14}For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

A Tree and Its Fruit

¹⁵“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.^{* 16}You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles?^{* 17}In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.^{* 20}Thus you will know them by their fruits.

Concerning Self-Deception

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.^{* 22}On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’^{* 23}Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly.’^*

Hearers and Doers

²⁴“Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.^{* 25}The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”

²⁸Now when Jesus had finished saying these words, the crowds were astounded at his teaching,^{* 29}for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes.

Jesus Cleanses a Man

⁸When Jesusⁱ had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, ²and there was a man with a skin disease who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”^{* 3}He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” Immediately his skin disease was cleansed. ⁴Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”^*

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

⁵When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him ⁶and saying, “Lord, my servant^j is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” ⁷And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” ⁸The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only speak the word, and my servant^k will be healed.^{* 9}For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” ¹⁰When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one^l in Israel have I found such faith. ¹¹I tell you, many will come from east and west and will take their places at the banquet with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,^{* 12}while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”^{* 13}And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant^m was healed in that hour.

Jesus Heals Many at Peter’s House

¹⁴When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever;^{* 15}he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. ¹⁶That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and cured all who were sick. ¹⁷This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”^*

Would-Be Followers of Jesus

¹⁸Now when Jesus saw great crowdsⁿ around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.^{* 19}A scribe then approached and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ²¹Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” ²²But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”^*

Jesus Stills the Storm

²³And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. ²⁵And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” ²⁶And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm.^{* 27}They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men

²⁸When he came to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes,^o two men possessed by demons came out of the tombs and met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”^{* 30}Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹The demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” ³²And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine, and suddenly, the whole herd stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water. ³³The swineherds ran off, and, going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the men possessed by demons. ³⁴Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their region.

⁹And after getting into a boat he crossed the sea and came to his own town.^*

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

²And some people were carrying to him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven.”^{* 3}Then some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” ⁴But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?^{* 5}For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? ⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your bed, and go to your home.” ⁷And he stood up and went to his home. ⁸When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.^*

The Call of Matthew

⁹As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

¹⁰And as he sat at dinner^p in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting^q with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”^{* 12}But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”^*

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often,^r but your disciples do not fast?”^{* 15}And Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.^{* 16}No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined, but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

¹⁸While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”^{* 19}And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. ²⁰Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak,^{* 21}for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.”^{* 22}Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter;…