Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Parallel translations
- WEB You 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.
- BSB You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
- NKJV Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
- NASB You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!
- NLT Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
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
First remove the plank from your own eye; then you can help your brother with his speck. Self-examination must precede helping others.
Overview
Jesus names the hypocrite directly and prescribes the cure: deal first with your own sin, and only then will you see clearly to help your brother. Far from forbidding all correction, he commends it once the heart is humbled and cleansed. This balances the warning against judging with a genuine call to gracious, clear-sighted concern for others' good.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Luke 6:42Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.
- Ps 51:9–13Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
- Matt 23:13–28But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
- Luke 13:15The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
- Luke 4:23And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
- Matt 22:18But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
- Luke 12:56Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
- Acts 19:15And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
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 7:5 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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