Matthew 7:25-29

7:25 The rain fell, the flood ¹  came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock. 7:26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 7:27 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!” ² 

7:28 When ³  Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed by his teaching, 7:29 because he taught them like one who had authority, ⁴  not like their experts in the law. ⁵ 

¹ tn Grk “the rivers.”

² tn Grk “and great was its fall.”

³ tn Grk “And it happened when.” The introductory phrase καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

⁴ sn Jesus’ teaching impressed the hearers with the directness of its claim; he taught with authority. A study of Jewish rabbinic interpretation shows that it was typical to cite a list of authorities to make one’s point. Apparently Jesus addressed the issues in terms of his own understanding.

⁵ tn Or “their scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.