1 Do not pronounce judgment {krinete: decisive verdict}, so that {hina: purpose-result link} you may not be judged.
2 The ruling {krima: judicial verdict} you give will come back to you, and the measure {metron: proportional standard} you use will be measured back to you.
3 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice {katanoeo: carefully consider} the beam {dokos: large supporting timber} that is in your own eye?
4 Or how will you say to your brother {adelphos: fellow community believer}, “Let me take out the speck {karphos: tiny wood chip} from your eye,” and behold, the beam is in your own eye?
5 Hypocrite {hypokrites: two-faced judge}, first remove the beam {dokos: large wooden piece} from your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 Do not hand over what is sacred {hagion: consecrated offering} to dogs, nor cast your pearls {margaritas: costly treasures} in front of pigs, for fear that they may crush them underfoot and, turning, tear you apart.
7 Keep asking {aiteite: earnest request}, and it will be granted to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking {krouete: persistent rapping}, and it will be opened to you.
8 For every person who keeps asking {aiton: persistent request}, he receives; the one who keeps seeking {zeton: steady pursuit} finds; and to the one who is knocking, it will be opened.
9 Or what man {anthropos: ordinary human father} is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread {arton: daily basic food}, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he also asks for a fish {ichthyn: ordinary food}, will he give him a serpent {ophin: harmful creature}?
11 If, then, you, though evil {poneroi: morally corrupt}, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father {Pater, Generous Provider}, the One in the heavens, give good things to those who ask Him.
12 Therefore, in all things, whatever you might wish that people {anthropoi: Other Humans} would do to you, you also do to them in the same way; for this is the Law {nomos: Covenant Standard} and the Prophets.
13 Enter through the narrow {stenes: constricted passage} gate, because the gate is wide and the road {hodos: life-course image} is spacious, and that road leads into destruction, and many are the ones entering through it.
14 Because the gate {pyle: tight opening} is narrow and the way leading into life is pressed hard, and few {oligoi: small number} are the ones who find it.
15 Stay on guard against the false prophets {pseudopropheton: deceptive speakers}, who approach you in sheep's garb, but inwardly they are predatory {harpages: violent predators} wolves.
16 From their fruits you will know {epignosesthe: clearly recognize} them. Surely they do not gather grapes from thorns {akanthon: spiny shrubs} or figs from thistles?
17 So every good tree {agathos: truly beneficial} produces good fruit, but the rotten tree produces bad {poneros: harmful} fruit.
18 A good tree {agathos: sound in character} is not able to produce bad {poneros: harmful} fruits, nor is a rotten tree able to produce good fruits.
19 Every tree {dendron: professing life} that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire {pyr: consuming judgment}.
20 Therefore {ara: inferred conclusion}, by their fruits {karpon: visible deeds} you will recognize them.
21 Not everyone who keeps saying to Me, “Lord {Kyrios, Supreme Judge}, Lord,” will gain entry into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one who does the will of My Father {pater, Heavenly Source} who is in the heavens.
22 On that day, many will declare to Me, “Lord {Kyrios, Final Judge}, Lord, was it not in Your name that we prophesied {propheteuo: spoke inspired messages}, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name performed many mighty deeds?”
23 And then I will declare {homologeso: formal verdict} to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness {anomian: lawless conduct}.”
24 Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine {Iesous, Authoritative Teacher} and carries them out will be shown to be like a wise man who constructed his house on the rock {petra: sure foundation}.
25 And the rain came down, and the floods {potamoi: rushing torrents} came, and the winds blew and battered that house, and it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock {petra: bedrock base}.
26 And every person who hears these words of Mine {mou: Authoritative Speaker} and does not carry them out will be made like a foolish man who built his house on the sand {ammon: shifting ground}.
27 And the rain came down, and the rivers {potamoi: flooding torrents} surged, and the winds blew and battered that house, and it gave way, and its collapse was immense {megale: exceedingly large}.
28 And after Jesus {Iesous, Authoritative Instructor} had brought these sayings to completion, the crowds were overwhelmed with amazement at His teaching {didache: weighty instruction}.
29 For He {Iesous, Authoritative Teacher} was instructing them in a way that carried authority {exousia, rightful power}, not in the manner of their scribes.