Matthew 7:13

Plain English Version

Then Jesus told them this picture story about how to live. He said, “It is like there are 2 tracks in life, and each track has its own gate. One gate is big and wide, but the other gate is a narrow little gate. It is hard to get through that little gate, and only a few people get through it. Listen, you have to go through that little gate. If you want to live with God for ever, you have to pick that little gate and go through it, and you have to follow its track. Its track is a narrow little track, and it is hard to walk on. But if you go that way, you will live with God for ever. The other gate is wide and easy to go through, and its track is wide and easy to walk on. A lot of people go that way. They go through that wide gate and walk along that easy track. But that track goes to the wrong place, and God will finish up those people.”

Cross References

Genesis 6:5

God looked at the people on the earth, and he saw them doing lots of bad things. He knew the way they were thinking. They were thinking bad things all the time. God saw that the people were very bad.

Matthew 25:41

Then I will turn to the people on my left-hand side, and I will say to them, ‘Get away from me, you mob that God will punish. Go into that big fire that burns for ever. God made that fire for all the bad spirits and for their boss, the devil. And you have to go there too.

Matthew 25:46

Then that bad mob will go to the bad place, and God will punish them for ever. But the good mob will go to live in the good place for ever.” (We have not yet translated 26:1—27:62a. You can read those stories and messages in Mark chapters 14 and 15, and Luke chapters 22 and 23. They are about the way people killed Jesus, and put his body in a cave, and blocked that cave with a big stone.)

Matthew 3:2

He said, “Listen. God is going to show everyone how they can be in his family. So you have to stop doing bad things. You have to turn around and live God’s way.”

Matthew 3:8

If you really are sorry for the bad things you did, and if you are turning around properly to live God’s way, show us. If we see you doing good things, then we will know it is true.

Luke 14:33

Then Jesus said, “It is the same for you. If you want to be one of my followers, you have to think about it. You see, your life will be hard. You will have to leave everything you own, and then you can follow me.” (We have not yet translated 14:34-35. You can read those messages in Mark 9:50; Matthew 5:13.)

John 14:6

Jesus said, “I am like that track for you. I can take you to my father. And I am the one that says what is true about God. And I am the one that can give people life so that they live with God for ever. I am the only one that can take people to God.

Acts 3:19

So listen. You mob have to change the way you live, and you have to turn back to God, so that he will not blame you or do payback to you for the bad things you did.

Galatians 5:24

You see, sometimes doing bad things makes people feel good. But people that belong to Jesus Christ stop doing those bad things. That bad part inside them might make them feel like doing those bad things, but they don’t take any notice of it any more. It is like they nailed it to a cross and killed it.

Philippians 3:19

They don’t listen to God. They listen to their own bodies, and they do bad things so that their bodies feel good. They do those bad things, but they don’t feel shame. Instead, they think they are smart. They only think about the things that belong to this world. And in the end God will finish them up for ever.