1“Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. 3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? 4Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? 5You 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. 8For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. 9Or who is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent? 11If 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! 12Therefore, 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. 14How 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. 16By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? 17Even so, every good tree produces good fruit, but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. 18A good tree can’t produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit. 19Every tree that doesn’t grow good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Therefore 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. 22Many 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?’ 23Then 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. 25The 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. 26Everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell—and its fall was great.”
28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching, 29for he taught them with authority, and not like the scribes.
NKJV NOTES
1:23 Behold…Immanuel: This is a quotation from Is. 7:14 . In this verse, the prophet Isaiah consoles King Ahaz of Judah. A coalition of two kings, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel, was opposing Ahaz. Isaiah tells Ahaz not to fear, for the plans of his enemies would not succeed. As a sign to Ahaz, a son would be born of a woman, and before that boy reached the age where he could tell right from wrong, the two kings would no longer be a threat to Ahaz. Some interpretations view Isaiah’s prophecy as directly prophetic of Jesus’ birth and nothing else. According to this view, only the miraculous birth of Jesus can be considered a sign. Since the Hebrew noun translated virgin in Is. 7:14 can also mean “young woman,” some have suggested that Isaiah was prophesying about a son born during the lifetime of Ahaz—perhaps Isaiah’s son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz ( Is. 8:3 ). Others have interpreted Isaiah’s prophecy as a prediction that a virgin, a contemporary of Isaiah, would marry and have a child. The sign to Ahaz was the sudden dissolution of Rezin and Pekah in the face of Assyria. Even though uncertainty surrounds how this prophecy was fulfilled during Isaiah’s lifetime, Matthew makes it clear that Isaiah’s words find their ultimate fulfillment in the virgin birth of Jesus, a sign to people of all ages that God was with them.
Nelson, Thomas. NKJV, The NKJV Study Bible, eBook (Kindle Locations 257274-257281). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
Nelson, Thomas. NKJV, The NKJV Study Bible, eBook (Kindle Locations 257281-257282). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
Nelson, Thomas. NKJV, The NKJV Study Bible, eBook (Kindle Locations 257271-257274). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.