Matthew 7; Matthew 8

1 "Stop judging so that you will not be judged.

2 Otherwise, you will be judged by the same standard you use to judge others. The standards you use for others will be applied to you.

3 So why do you see the piece of sawdust in another believer's eye and not notice the wooden beam in your own eye?

4 How can you say to another believer, 'Let me take the piece of sawdust out of your eye,' when you have a beam in your own eye?

5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye. Then you will see clearly to remove the piece of sawdust from another believer's eye.

6 "Don't give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls to pigs. Otherwise, they will trample them and then tear you to pieces.

7 "Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you.

8 Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find, and for the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 "If your child asks you for bread, would any of you give him a stone?

10 Or if your child asks for a fish, would you give him a snake?

11 Even though you're evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

12 "Always do for other people everything you want them to do for you. That is [the meaning of] Moses' Teachings and the Prophets.

13 "Enter through the narrow gate because the gate and road that lead to destruction are wide. Many enter through the wide gate.

14 But the narrow gate and the road that lead to life are full of trouble. Only a few people find the narrow gate.

15 "Beware of false prophets. They come to you disguised as sheep, but in their hearts they are vicious wolves.

16 You will know them by what they produce. "People don't pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, do they?

17 In the same way every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit.

18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a rotten tree cannot produce good fruit.

19 Any tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into a fire.

20 So you will know them by what they produce.

21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the person who does what my Father in heaven wants.

22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we force out demons and do many miracles by the power and authority of your name?'

23 Then I will tell them publicly, 'I've never known you. Get away from me, you evil people.'

24 "Therefore, everyone who hears what I say and obeys it will be like a wise person who built a house on rock.

25 Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not collapse, because its foundation was on rock.

26 "Everyone who hears what I say but doesn't obey it will be like a foolish person who built a house on sand.

27 Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and struck that house. It collapsed, and the result was a total disaster."

28 When Jesus finished this speech, the crowds were amazed at his teachings.

29 Unlike their scribes, he taught them with authority.

1 When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.

2 A man with a serious skin disease came and bowed down in front of him. The man said to Jesus, "Sir, if you're willing, you can make me clean."

3 Jesus reached out, touched him, and said, "I'm willing. So be clean!" Immediately, his skin disease went away, and he was clean.

4 Jesus said to him, "Don't tell anyone about this! Instead, show yourself to the priest. Then offer the sacrifice Moses commanded as proof to people that you are clean."

5 When Jesus went to Capernaum, a Roman army officer came to beg him for help.

6 The officer said, "Sir, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in terrible pain."

7 Jesus said to him, "I'll come to heal him."

8 The officer responded, "Sir, I don't deserve to have you come into my house. But just give a command, and my servant will be healed.

9 As you know, I'm in a chain of command and have soldiers at my command. I tell one of them, 'Go!' and he goes, and another, 'Come!' and he comes. I tell my servant, 'Do this!' and he does it."

10 Jesus was amazed when he heard this. He said to those who were following him, "I can guarantee this truth: I haven't found faith as great as this in anyone in Israel.

11 I can guarantee that many will come from all over the world. They will eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

12 The citizens of that kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness. People will cry and be in extreme pain there.

13 Jesus told the officer, "Go! What you believed will be done for you." And at that moment the servant was healed.

14 When Jesus went to Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law in bed with a fever.

15 Jesus touched her hand, and the fever went away. So she got up and prepared a meal for him.

16 In the evening the people brought him many who were possessed by demons. He forced the [evil] spirits out of people with a command and cured everyone who was sick.

17 So what the prophet Isaiah had said came true: "He took away our weaknesses and removed our diseases."

18 Now, when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he ordered [his disciples] to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

19 A scribe came to him and said, "Teacher, I'll follow you wherever you go."

20 Jesus told him, "Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to sleep."

21 Another disciple said to him, "Sir, first let me go to bury my father."

22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

23 Jesus' disciples went with him as he left in a boat.

24 Suddenly, a severe storm came across the sea. The waves were covering the boat. Yet, Jesus was sleeping.

25 So they woke him up, saying, "Lord! Save us! We're going to die!"

26 Jesus said to them, "Why do you cowards have so little faith?" Then he got up, gave an order to the wind and the sea, and the sea became very calm.

27 The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!"

28 When he arrived in the territory of the Gadarenes on the other side [of the Sea of Galilee], two men met him. They were possessed by demons and had come out of the tombs. No one could travel along that road because the men were so dangerous.

29 They shouted, "Why are you bothering us now, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us before it is time?"

30 A large herd of pigs was feeding in the distance.

31 The demons begged Jesus, "If you're going to force us out, send us into that herd of pigs."

32 Jesus said to them, "Go!" The demons came out and went into the pigs. Suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the cliff into the sea and died in the water.

33 Those who took care of the pigs ran into the city. There they reported everything, especially about the men possessed by demons.

34 Everyone from the city went to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their territory.