Matthew 7:15-25

Contemporary English Version

A Tree and Its Fruit

(Luke 6.43-45)

¹⁵ Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. ^16 (A) You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. ¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. ^19 (B) Every tree producing bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. ^20 (C) You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds.

A Warning

(Luke 13.26,27)

²¹ Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in. ²² On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, “We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.” ^23 (D) But I will tell them, “I will have nothing to do with you! Get out of my sight, you evil people!”

Two Builders

(Luke 6.47-49)

²⁴ Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. ²⁵ Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it was built on solid rock, and so it did not fall.