Bible Strands
Matthew 7:1
“Do not judge, or you will be judged.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses his listeners during the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), in a sequence of ethical commands to his followers.
The words — κρῖνετε (krinete, "do judge") is the imperative driving the verse; the same root returns as κριθῆτε (krithēte, "you may be judged"), binding the command and its consequence to one verb. The ἵνα clause frames the consequence as purpose, not mere outcome.
The thread — Luke 6:37 parallels the command and adds "condemn" and "forgive"; Romans 2:1 and James 4:11 extend the principle to condemnation and slander.
Why it lands — The verse does not forbid discernment; it asserts that the standard a reader applies to others becomes the standard applied to them, making the act of judging self-referential.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Cross-references
- Luke 6:37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
- Romans 2:1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
- James 4:11 Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it.
- Luke 6:41 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
- Romans 14:10 Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
- Matthew 7:5 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.
- 1 Corinthians 4:3 I care very little, however, if I am judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
- Romans 14:3 The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.
- Matthew 7:2 For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- Ezekiel 16:52 So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.