Matthew 7
The chapter in full, then what it says, what the Greek or Hebrew decides, and where readers have disagreed.
Matthew 7 WEB
- 1 "Don't judge, so that you won't be judged.
- 2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
- 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but don't consider the beam that is in your own eye?
- 4 Or how will you tell your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye,' and behold, the beam is in your own eye?
- 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye.
- 6 "Don't give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
- 7 "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
- 8 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
- 9 Or who is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
- 10 Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent?
- 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
- 12 Therefore, whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
- 13 "Enter in by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter in by it.
- 14 How narrow is the gate and the way is restricted that leads to life! There are few who find it.
- 15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.
- 16 By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles?
- 17 Even so, every good tree produces good fruit, but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit.
- 18 A good tree can't produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit.
- 19 Every tree that doesn't grow good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
- 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
- 22 Many will tell me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?'
- 23 Then I will tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.'
- 24 "Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
- 25 The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it didn't fall, for it was founded on the rock.
- 26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn't do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
- 27 The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell—and its fall was great."
- 28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching,
- 29 for he taught them with authority, and not like the scribes.
Matthew 7
What is happening
Matthew 7 closes the Sermon on the Mount, the block of teaching that began in chapter 5 when Jesus, seeing the crowds, went up a mountain and sat down to teach his disciples with the crowds listening in. Chapters 5–6 have covered the Beatitudes, the relation of Jesus's teaching to the Law, and the practice of righteousness — almsgiving, prayer, fasting, money, anxiety — all aimed at exposing motive, not just behavior. Chapter 7 gathers loose but related sayings — on judgment, on discernment, on prayer, on the two ways, on false prophets, on hearing versus doing — and ends with the parable that seals the whole sermon: two builders, two foundations. The chapter, and the sermon, close with the crowd's reaction: astonishment, because Jesus taught "with authority, and not like the scribes" (7:29).
The passage, walked through
On judgment (7:1–5). "Don't judge, so that you won't be judged" is not a ban on moral discernment — the rest of the chapter requires it (7:6, 15–20). The Greek κρίνω covers both "judge" in the sense of assess and "judge" in the sense of condemn; context shows Jesus means the latter — the habit of setting oneself up as final arbiter of another. The measure returns: "with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you" (7:2). The image that follows is deliberately absurd: a man with a beam (δοκός, a construction timber) lodged in his own eye offering eye surgery on his brother's speck (κάρφος, a splinter). "You hypocrite" (ὑποκριτά) names the posture precisely — not merely inconsistency but performance, playing a part. The demand is sequence, not silence: "first remove the beam... and then you can see clearly" (7:5) — self-examination has to precede correction of others, not replace it.
On discernment (7:6). "Don't give that which is holy to the dogs" sits oddly against 7:1 unless the two are read together: refusing to condemn is not the same as refusing to discern. Some things — sacred things — are wasted or worse on those who will only trample and turn on the giver. The verse is compressed and much debated (below).
On prayer (7:7–11). Three imperatives in ascending intensity — "Ask... Seek... Knock" — each backed by a promise, and the promises are restated as present fact in 7:8: "everyone who asks receives." The argument from 7:9–11 is a parent's logic: no father gives a stone for bread or a serpent for fish. "If you then, being evil" (πονηροί — the ordinary word for morally flawed, not villainous) "know how to give good gifts... how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things." The argument moves from lesser to greater, from flawed human fatherhood to the Father who is unmixed good.
The Golden Rule (7:12). "Whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them" is given as the summary: "this is the law and the prophets." It is not a novel ethic invented here; Jesus presents it as the condensation of everything Israel's scripture had been saying about how to treat one another.
The two ways (7:13–14). A choice, not a description of odds to be philosophical about: "the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction," "narrow is the gate... that leads to life... there are few who find it." The verbs are active — enter, find — this is not fate but decision.
False prophets and fruit (7:15–20). "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves." The test given is not eloquence, sincerity, or claimed authority but result over time: "by their fruits you will know them." The logic is stated as near-botanical necessity — "a good tree can't produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit" (7:18) — character discloses itself; it cannot be permanently faked.
Not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" (7:21–23). This is the chapter's hardest passage. Jesus describes people who prophesied, cast out demons, did "many mighty works" in his name — and hears from him: "I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity." Religious performance, even supernatural performance, is not identical with relationship. What is absent is not activity but being known — and doing "the will of my Father" (7:21), which the whole sermon has just spent two chapters describing.
The two builders (7:24–27). The sermon's conclusion: hearing these words and doing them is the wise man building on rock; hearing and not doing is the fool building on sand. Both houses face the identical storm — "the rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew" — the difference is not the trial but the foundation. Everyone gets weather.
The crowd's reaction (7:28–29). Astonishment, because Jesus "taught them with authority" (ἐξουσία), unlike the scribes, who taught by citing prior authorities. He has been speaking, throughout, in his own name.
Where readers have disagreed
7:1 is the most misquoted verse in the chapter, routinely stretched into "no one may say anything is wrong." The chapter's own structure refutes that reading within five verses: 7:6 requires telling holy from unholy, 7:15–20 requires testing prophets by fruit, 7:21–23 requires recognizing counterfeit discipleship. The historic reading (shared broadly across the tradition) is that 7:1 forbids the self-exalting, hypocritical judgment of 7:2–5, not moral discernment as such.
7:6, "dogs" and "pigs," has drawn readings from the patristic era onward identifying the "holy thing" with the Eucharist withheld from the unworthy, and later readers taking it more generally as wisdom about when correction or sacred truth will only provoke contempt rather than receive a hearing. The verse gives no interpretive key of its own; the tradition's caution is to read it alongside, not against, the Great Commission's command to preach to all nations.
7:21–23 raises the perennial question of assurance: how does a person distinguish real discipleship from the counterfeit described here, especially since the counterfeit includes visible spiritual power? The chapter's own answer is "by their fruits" (7:16–20) and "does the will of my Father" (7:21) — a matter of sustained obedience, not a single claimed experience or gift.
What it asks of a reader
The chapter presses a consistency the reader would rather not have named: the same measure by which one judges others will return. It refuses the two easy exits — either condemning freely while excusing oneself, or refusing all discernment in the name of tolerance. It makes prayer a matter of asking a Father rather than negotiating with an abstraction. It insists that words about God — even fluent, confident, wonder-working words — are not the same thing as knowing him or doing what he says. And it ends by removing the option of admiring the sermon without building on it: everyone who hears these words is building something, on rock or on sand, and the storm comes to both houses alike.
The verses this turns on
"Don't judge, so that you won't be judged.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Μὴ κρίνετε, ἵνα μὴ κριθῆτε·
- Μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
- κρίνετε, κρίνω verb · present active imperative, 2nd person plural G2919
- ἵνα ἵνα conjunction G2443
- μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
- κριθῆτε· κρίνω verb · aorist passive subjunctive, 2nd person plural G2919
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Luke 6:37 Don't judge, and you won't be judged. Don't condemn, and you won't be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free.
- Romans 2:1 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.
- James 4:11 Don't speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
- Luke 6:41 Why do you see the speck of chaff that is in your brother's eye, but don't consider the beam that is in your own eye?
- Romans 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
ἐν ᾧ γὰρ κρίματι κρίνετε κριθήσεσθε, καὶ ἐν ᾧ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε μετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν.
- ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
- ᾧ ὅς relative pronoun · dative singular neuter G3739
- γὰρ γάρ conjunction G1063
- κρίματι κρίμα noun · dative singular neuter G2917
- κρίνετε κρίνω verb · present active indicative, 2nd person plural G2919
- κριθήσεσθε, κρίνω verb · future passive indicative, 2nd person plural G2919
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
- ᾧ ὅς relative pronoun · dative singular neuter G3739
- μέτρῳ μέτρον noun · dative singular neuter G3358
- μετρεῖτε μετρέω verb · present active indicative, 2nd person plural G3354
- μετρηθήσεται μετρέω verb · future passive indicative, 3rd person singular G3354
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Mark 4:24 He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you; and more will be given to you who hear.
- Obadiah 1:15 For the day of Yahweh is near all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head.
- Luke 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you."
- Psalm 18:25 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.
You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
ὑποκριτά, ἔκβαλε πρῶτον ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ σοῦ τὴν δοκόν, καὶ τότε διαβλέψεις ἐκβαλεῖν τὸ κάρφος ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου.
- ὑποκριτά, ὑποκριτής noun · vocative singular masculine G5273
- ἔκβαλε ἐκβάλλω verb · aorist active imperative, 2nd person singular G1544
- πρῶτον πρῶτος adverb G4412
- ἐκ ἐκ preposition G1537
- τοῦ ὁ article · genitive singular masculine G3588
- ὀφθαλμοῦ ὀφθαλμός noun · genitive singular masculine G3788
- σοῦ σύ personal pronoun G4771
- τὴν ὁ article · accusative singular feminine G3588
- δοκόν, δοκός noun · accusative singular feminine G1385
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- τότε τότε adverb G5119
- διαβλέψεις διαβλέπω verb · future active indicative, 2nd person singular G1227
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Luke 6:42 Or how can you tell your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck of chaff that is in your eye,' when you yourself don't see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck of chaff that is in your brother's eye.
- Psalm 51:9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.
- Matthew 23:13 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
- Luke 13:15 Therefore the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath and lead him away to water?
- Luke 4:23 He said to them, "Doubtless you will tell me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.'"
"Don't give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς κυσίν, μηδὲ βάλητε τοὺς μαργαρίτας ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων, μή ποτε καταπατήσουσιν αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτῶν καὶ στραφέντες ῥήξωσιν ὑμᾶς.
- Μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
- δῶτε δίδωμι verb · aorist active subjunctive, 2nd person plural G1325
- τὸ ὁ article · accusative singular neuter G3588
- ἅγιον ἅγιος adjective · accusative singular neuter G40
- τοῖς ὁ article · dative plural masculine G3588
- κυσίν, κύων noun · dative plural masculine G2965
- μηδὲ μηδέ conjunction · nominative G3366
- βάλητε βάλλω verb · aorist active subjunctive, 2nd person plural G906
- τοὺς ὁ article · accusative plural masculine G3588
- μαργαρίτας μαργαρίτης noun · accusative plural masculine G3135
- ὑμῶν σύ personal pronoun G4771
- ἔμπροσθεν ἔμπροσθεν preposition G1715
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Proverbs 9:7 One who corrects a mocker invites insult. One who reproves a wicked man invites abuse.
- Proverbs 23:9 Don't speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
- Matthew 10:14 Whoever doesn't receive you or hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.
- Proverbs 26:11 As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly.
- Matthew 15:26 But he answered, "It is not appropriate to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
"Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Αἰτεῖτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν· ζητεῖτε, καὶ εὑρήσετε· κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν.
- Αἰτεῖτε, αἰτέω verb · present active imperative, 2nd person plural G154
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- δοθήσεται δίδωμι verb · future passive indicative, 3rd person singular G1325
- ὑμῖν· σύ personal pronoun G4771
- ζητεῖτε, ζητέω verb · present active imperative, 2nd person plural G2212
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- εὑρήσετε· εὑρίσκω verb · future active indicative, 2nd person plural G2147
- κρούετε, κρούω verb · present active imperative, 2nd person plural G2925
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἀνοιγήσεται ἀνοίγω verb · future passive indicative, 3rd person singular G455
- ὑμῖν. σύ personal pronoun G4771
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Matthew 21:22 All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
- 1 John 3:22 so whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
- John 15:7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.
- Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them.
- Psalm 145:18 Yahweh is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
πᾶς γὰρ ὁ αἰτῶν λαμβάνει καὶ ὁ ζητῶν εὑρίσκει καὶ τῷ κρούοντι ἀνοιγήσεται.
- πᾶς πᾶς adjective · nominative singular masculine G3956
- γὰρ γάρ conjunction G1063
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- αἰτῶν αἰτέω verb · present active participle, nominative singular masculine G154
- λαμβάνει λαμβάνω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G2983
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- ζητῶν ζητέω verb · present active participle, nominative singular masculine G2212
- εὑρίσκει εὑρίσκω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G2147
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- τῷ ὁ article · dative singular masculine G3588
- κρούοντι κρούω verb · present active participle, dative singular masculine G2925
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Psalm 81:10 I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
- Psalm 81:16 But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat. I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock."
- Luke 23:42 He said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom."
- Matthew 15:22 Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders and cried, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!"
- Acts 9:11 The Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying,
Or who is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
ἢ τίς ἐστιν ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος, ὃν αἰτήσει ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἄρτον, μὴ λίθον ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ;
- ἢ ἤ particle G2228
- τίς τίς interrogative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G5101
- ἐστιν εἰμί verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G1510
- ἐξ ἐκ preposition G1537
- ὑμῶν σύ personal pronoun G4771
- ἄνθρωπος, ἄνθρωπος noun · nominative singular masculine G444
- ὃν ὅς relative pronoun · accusative singular masculine G3739
- αἰτήσει αἰτέω verb · future active indicative, 3rd person singular G154
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- υἱὸς υἱός noun · nominative singular masculine G5207
- αὐτοῦ αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846
- ἄρτον, ἄρτος noun · accusative singular masculine G740
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 1
- Luke 11:11 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won't give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
Therefore, whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Πάντα οὖν ὅσα ἐὰν θέλητε ἵνα ποιῶσιν ὑμῖν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε αὐτοῖς· οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται.
- Πάντα πᾶς adjective · accusative plural neuter G3956
- οὖν οὖν conjunction G3767
- ὅσα ὅσος correlative pronoun · accusative plural neuter G3745
- ἐὰν ἐάν conditional G1437
- θέλητε θέλω verb · present active subjunctive, 2nd person plural G2309
- ἵνα ἵνα conjunction G2443
- ποιῶσιν ποιέω verb · present active subjunctive, 3rd person plural G4160
- ὑμῖν σύ personal pronoun G4771
- οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
- ἄνθρωποι, ἄνθρωπος noun · nominative plural masculine G444
- οὕτως οὕτω adverb G3779
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Luke 6:31 "As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them.
- Romans 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- Galatians 5:13 For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don't use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
- Leviticus 19:18 "'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
- Mark 12:29 Jesus answered, "The greatest is: 'Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
From the interpretive tradition
The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked.
Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.