By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Parallel translations
- WEB By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
- KJV Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
- NKJV You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
- NASB You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?
- NLT You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
You can recognize false prophets by their fruits, just as plants are known by what they produce. Character and conduct ultimately expose what a person truly is.
Overview
Jesus provides the test for detecting false prophets: their 'fruits'—their teaching, conduct, and character—reveal their true nature. Just as thorns yield no grapes and thistles no figs, a corrupt source cannot produce genuine godliness. Discernment looks past appearances to the actual results of a person's life and ministry.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Luke 6:43–45No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
- Matt 12:33Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
- Jas 3:12My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
- Matt 7:20So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.
- 2 Pet 2:10–18Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.
- Jude 1:10–19These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 7:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.