Matthew 7:15

Plain English Version

Then Jesus told them, “Always be careful. Don’t believe everybody. There are some people that reckon they are telling you a message from God, but they are liars. They try to get you to think they are like sheep, like they are soft and will not give you any trouble. But really, they are like wild dingoes. They will give you trouble, like dingoes hurt sheep. If you believe their words, then you will get lots of trouble.

Cross References

Luke 12:15

Then he said to the people, “Think carefully about this. Don’t be greedy. Don’t try to get more things than you need. You can’t get real life from the things you own, even if you are rich.”

John 10:12

You know, there are also workers that don’t own the sheep. The owner pays them to look after the sheep. But they don’t really care about the sheep. If they see a wild dog coming, they get frightened, and they leave the sheep there and run away. Then the wild dog chases the sheep to grab them and eat them, and the sheep run away.

Acts 13:40

A long time ago, God told some of his men to write about that, and it is in God’s book. And now you people be careful. Don’t be like the people that those men wrote about in God’s book. One of them wrote,

Acts 13:6

Then Barnabas, and Saul, and John Mark went over to the other side of the island, to the town called Pafos. (Saul had another name. They called him Paul.) The Roman boss over that island lived in Pafos. His name was Sergius Paulus. He was a man that could think properly, and he wanted to hear God’s message, so he sent men to bring Barnabas and Saul to him. There was a Jewish man there that worked for Sergius Paulus. His Jewish name was Bar-Jesus, and his Greek name was Elimas. He was a magic man, and he used to reckon that he was telling people God’s messages, but he was lying. Elimas tried to stop Barnabas and Paul from telling God’s message to Sergius Paulus. He kept on telling his Roman boss, “Don’t listen to them.” But the Holy Spirit was with Paul and gave him power. He looked straight at Elimas

Ephesians 4:14

So then liars will not trick us, like they trick little kids. Lots of tricky people will try to teach us new messages that sound good, but are wrong. But we will not be like little kids. We will not believe their lies. Instead, we will be strong, and we will not stop believing the true message.

Ephesians 5:6

Don’t believe anyone that says you can do those bad things. Don’t let them trick you. Don’t believe their lies. God will get really angry with people that do those bad things, and he will punish those people that will not listen to him or do what he says.

Philippians 3:2

Look out. There are some men that want to teach you the wrong things and get you to go the wrong way. They are like dogs. They go the wrong way. They only want to cut men’s bodies. They say that you don’t belong to God unless you do what the Jewish law says and have a young man operation. They are wrong. We have God’s spirit in us, and he helps us respect God the right way. We know what Jesus Christ did for us, and we trust him. We know that ceremonies that people do will not save us, so we don’t trust them. So really, we are the ones that belong to God. Those people that only follow that Jewish law don’t belong to him.

Colossians 2:8

Some people might try to make you believe some ideas about God that are wrong. Those ideas didn’t come from Jesus Christ, but they came from bad spirits, and from the people of this world. People taught those ideas to their kids, and to their grand-kids. But those ideas are not true. They might sound good, but they are tricky lies. Be careful. Don’t believe them.

2 Timothy 3:13

And those bad liars will get worse and worse. They will go on tricking people, and just like that, other people will trick them too.

2 Timothy 4:3

You see, people are getting less interested in true stories. One day, they will not listen to good people that teach the true message, but instead they will listen to somebody that says strange things. And they will find teachers that will just say whatever people want to hear.

2 Peter 3:17

But, my friends, you know these things already. So be very careful. Don’t believe the lies that those bad people say. Don’t let them lead you away from God. If you listen to them, you might stop being sure about the true things.

Jude 1:4

I talk like this because there are some bad people that secretly came into your group. That mob don’t want to do the things that God wants. Instead, they do all the bad things that they want to do. They reckon it is all right to do those bad things. They say, “God is good to us, so he lets us do these bad things.” Whenever they say that, they are really trying to change God’s true message. And they are turning away from Jesus, our only true boss. But God says in his book that he will punish those bad people.