Matthew 5:20 - Plain English Version

²⁰ I’m telling you this, if you don’t do everything that God says, then you can’t come into his family. You know that mob called Pharisees. They are really strong for our Jewish law. And you know the mob that teach our Jewish law. Well, you have to follow God’s law better than all of that Pharisee mob and that law teacher mob.”

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

²⁰ For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness (your uprightness and your right standing with God) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

American Standard Version (1901)

²⁰ For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Common English Bible

²⁰ I say to you that unless your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the legal experts and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Catholic Public Domain Version

²⁰ For I say to you, that unless your justice has surpassed that of the scribes and the Pharisees you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:20 Cross References

Matthew 3:10

So you look out. God is going to punish you. He is like a man lifting up an axe to cut the roots of a tree. You are like trees that haven’t got good fruit, so men chop them down and throw them into a fire. God will punish you like that. He will throw you into a fire.”

Matthew 7:21

And Jesus said, “Lots of people call me, ‘My leader and my boss,’ but some of them will never be in God’s family. God will only have people that do what he wants them to do. God will have those people in his family, but not the other people. God is my father in heaven.

Mark 10:15

You know, little kids know they are weak and not important, so they trust their mothers and fathers and do what they say. Well, I’m telling you straight, you have to be like those kids. You have to trust God and let him be your boss. If you can’t do that, you can’t be in God’s family.”

Luke 11:44

But God will make trouble for you mob. You are like ground that has dead bodies in it that people don’t know about. People walk on that ground, and they think it is good. You are like that ground. You get people to think you are good, and they don’t know that you are bad on the inside.”

Philippians 3:9

and belong to him properly. I have stopped trying to follow that Jewish law to get God to say that I’m all right. Instead of that, I trust in Jesus Christ, and that is the reason why God will say that I’m all right. God makes us right because we believe in Jesus.