Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand.
Parallel translations
- KJV And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
- BSB But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
- NKJV “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
- NASB And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
- NLT But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.
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
Whoever hears Jesus' words but doesn't obey is like a fool building on sand. Hearing without doing leaves life without a foundation.
Overview
The contrasting builder also hears Jesus' words but fails to act on them, building on sand. The difference between the two men lies not in hearing but in doing. The parable warns that merely knowing or admiring Jesus' teaching, without obedient response, is foolish and ultimately ruinous.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Luke 6:49But he who hears, and doesn’t do, is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
- Jer 8:9The wise men are disappointed. They are dismayed and trapped. Behold, they have rejected Yahweh’s word. What kind of wisdom is in them?
- Jas 2:20But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
- Prov 14:1Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
- 1 Sam 2:30“Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever.’ But now Yahweh says, ‘Far be it from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed.
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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 7:26 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
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