^47 (A)Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and ^[a]acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who ^[b]dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when there was a flood, the river burst against that house and yet it could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; and the river burst against it and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

The Two Foundations

²⁴ “Therefore, ^(A)everyone who hears these words of Mine, and ^[a]acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell and the ^[b]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not ^[c]act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain fell and the ^[d]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”

^22 (A)But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his ^[a]natural face ^(B)in a mirror; ²⁴ for once he has looked at himself and gone away, ^[b]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. ²⁵ But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, ^(C)the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but ^[c]an active doer, this person will be ^(D)blessed in ^[d]what he does.

²⁶ If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not ^[e](E)bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless. ²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion ^(F)in the sight of our God and Father is this: to ^(G)visit ^(H)orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained ^[f]by ^(I)the world.