“Do not judge, or you will be judged.
For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye?
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.
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.
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
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.
And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
I care very little, however, if I am judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me.
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions.
To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent—each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.
The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work and gained five more.
Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more.
But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
. . .
you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.
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.
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?
Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.
When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of the Lord Jesus,
hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.
. . .
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:
“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.
And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men,
yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests.’”
. . .
Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.
Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.
. . .