Matthew 7:15

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Be on the watch for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are cruel wolves.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Προσέχετε δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασιν προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσιν λύκοι ἅρπαγες.

Transliteration

Prosechete de apo tōn pseudoprophētōn, who erchontai pros hymas en endymasin probatōn, esōthen de eisin lykoi harpages.

Grammar Details

• *Prosechete*: present active imperative, 2nd person plural - beware/pay attention to
• *de*: postpositive conjunction - but/and/now
• *apo*: preposition with genitive - from
• *tōn pseudoprophētōn*: genitive plural masculine - the false prophets
• *hoitines*: relative pronoun, nominative plural masculine - who/whoever
• *erchontai*: present middle indicative, 3rd person plural - come/are coming
• *pros*: preposition with accusative - to/toward
• *hymas*: accusative plural - you
• *en*: preposition with dative - in/with
• *endymasin*: dative plural neuter - garments/clothing
• *probatōn*: genitive plural neuter - of sheep
• *esōthen*: adverb - from within/inside
• *eisin*: present active indicative, 3rd person plural - are
• *lykoi*: nominative plural masculine - wolves
• *harpages*: nominative plural masculine - ravenous/rapacious

Word Meanings

• *prosechete*: beware/pay attention to/be on guard against
• *pseudoprophētōn*: false prophets/pretenders to divine inspiration
• *erchontai*: come/approach/arrive
• *endymasin*: garments/clothing/outer wear
• *probatōn*: sheep [symbol of innocence/harmlessness]
• *esōthen*: within/inside/inwardly
• *lykoi*: wolves [symbol of danger/destruction]
• *harpages*: ravenous/rapacious/predatory/greedy

Referenced Verses

• 1 John 4:1 : 1 My loved ones, do not put your faith in every spirit, but put them to the test, to see if they are from God: because a great number of false prophets have gone out into the world.
• 2 Pet 2:1-3 : 1 But there were false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly put forward wrong teachings for your destruction, even turning away from the Lord who gave himself for them; whose destruction will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it. 2 And a great number will go with them in their evil ways, through whom the true way will have a bad name. 3 And in their desire for profit they will come to you with words of deceit, like traders doing business in souls: whose punishment has been ready for a long time and their destruction is watching for them.
• Matt 24:11 : 11 And a number of false prophets will come, causing error.
• Col 2:8 : 8 Take care that no one takes you away by force, through man's wisdom and deceit, going after the beliefs of men and the theories of the world, and not after Christ:
• Deut 13:1-3 : 1 If ever you have among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder takes place, and he says to you, Let us go after other gods, which are strange to you, and give them worship; 3 Then give no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God is testing you, to see if all the love of your heart and soul is given to him.
• Acts 20:29-31 : 29 I am conscious that after I am gone, evil wolves will come in among you, doing damage to the flock; 30 And from among yourselves will come men who will give wrong teaching, turning away the disciples after them. 31 So keep watch, having in mind that for three years without resting I was teaching every one of you, day and night, with weeping.
• Mark 13:22-23 : 22 Because there will be false Christs and false prophets, and they will give signs and wonders in the hope of turning even the saints from the true way. 23 But take care; see, I have made all things clear to you before the time.
• Luke 6:26 : 26 Unhappy are you when all men give you their approval: for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
• 2 Cor 11:13-15 : 13 For such men are false Apostles, workers of deceit, making themselves seem like Apostles of Christ. 14 And it is no wonder; for even Satan himself is able to take the form of an angel of light. 15 So it is no great thing if his servants make themselves seem to be servants of righteousness; whose end will be the reward of their works.
• Mic 3:5-7 : 5 This is what the Lord has said about the prophets by whom my people have been turned from the right way; who, biting with their teeth, say, Peace; and if anyone puts nothing in their mouths they make ready for war against him. 6 For this cause it will be night for you, without a vision; and it will be dark for you, without knowledge of the future; the sun will go down over the prophets, and the day will be black over them. 7 And the seers will be shamed, and the readers of the future will be at a loss, all of them covering their lips; for there is no answer from God.
• Mic 3:11 : 11 Its heads take rewards for judging, and the priests take payment for teaching, and the prophets get silver for reading the future: but still, supporting themselves on the Lord, they say, Is not the Lord among us? no evil will overtake us.
• 2 Pet 3:17 : 17 For this reason, my loved ones, having knowledge of these things before they take place, take care that you are not turned away by the error of the uncontrolled, so falling from your true faith.
• Jude 1:4 : 4 For certain men have come among you secretly, marked out before in the holy Writings for this evil fate, men without the fear of God, turning his grace into an unclean thing, and false to our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
• Rev 19:20 : 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs before him, by which they were turned from the true way who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image: these two were put living into the sea of ever-burning fire.
• Ezek 22:27 : 27 Her rulers in her are like wolves violently taking their food; putting men to death and causing the destruction of souls, so that they may get their profit.
• Ezek 22:25 : 25 Her rulers in her are like a loud-voiced lion violently taking his food; they have made a meal of souls; they have taken wealth and valued property; they have made great the number of widows in her.
• Isa 9:15-16 : 15 The man who is honoured and responsible is the head, and the prophet who gives false teaching is the tail. 16 For the guides of this people are the cause of their wandering from the right way, and those who are guided by them come to destruction.
• Jer 14:14-16 : 14 Then the Lord said to me, The prophets say false words in my name, and I gave them no orders, and I said nothing to them: what they say to you is a false vision and wonder-working words without substance, the deceit of their hearts. 15 So this is what the Lord has said about the prophets who make use of my name, though I sent them not, and say, The sword and need of food will not be in this land: the sword and need of food will put an end to those prophets. 16 And the people to whom they are prophets will be pushed out dead into the streets of Jerusalem, because there is no food, and because of the sword; and they will have no one to put their bodies into the earth, them or their wives or their sons or their daughters: for I will let loose their evil-doing on them.
• Jer 23:13-16 : 13 And I have seen ways without sense in the prophets of Samaria; they became prophets of the Baal, causing my people Israel to go wrong. 14 And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a shocking thing; they are untrue to their wives, walking in deceit, and they make strong the hands of evil-doers, so that a man may not be turned back from his evil-doing: they have all become like Sodom to me, and its people like Gomorrah. 15 So this is what the Lord of armies has said about the prophets: See, I will give them a bitter plant for their food, and bitter water for their drink: for from the prophets of Jerusalem unclean behaviour has gone out into all the land. 16 This is what the Lord of armies has said: Do not give ear to the words which the prophets say to you: they give you teaching of no value: it is from themselves that their vision comes, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
• Jer 28:15-17 : 15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, Give ear, now, Hananiah; the Lord has not sent you; but you are making this people put their faith in what is false. 16 For this reason the Lord has said, See, I will send you away from off the face of the earth: this year death will overtake you, because you have said words against the Lord. 17 So death came to Hananiah the prophet the same year, in the seventh month.
• Jer 29:21 : 21 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said about Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and about Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are saying to you what is false in my name: See, I will give them up into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your eyes.
• Jer 29:32 : 32 For this cause the Lord has said, Truly I will send punishment on Shemaiah and on his seed; not a man of his family will have a place among this people, and he will not see the good which I am going to do to my people, says the Lord: because he has said words against the Lord.
• Ezek 13:16 : 16 Even the prophets of Israel who say words to Jerusalem, who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace, says the Lord.
• Zeph 3:3-4 : 3 Her rulers are like loud-voiced lions in her; her judges are wolves of the evening, crushing up the bones before the morning. 4 Her prophets are good-for-nothing persons, full of deceit: her priests have made the holy place unclean and have gone violently against the law.
• Zech 13:4 : 4 And it will come about in that day that the prophets will be shamed, every man on account of his vision, when he is talking as a prophet; and they will not put on a robe of hair for purposes of deceit:
• Matt 10:17 : 17 But be on the watch against men: for they will give you up to the Sanhedrins, and in their Synagogues they will give you blows;
• Matt 16:6 : 6 And Jesus said to them, Take care to have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
• Matt 16:11 : 11 How is it that you do not see that I was not talking to you about bread, but about keeping away from the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?
• Matt 24:4-5 : 4 And Jesus said to them in answer, Take care that you are not tricked. 5 For people will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and a number will be turned from the true way through them.
• Gal 2:4 : 4 And that because of the false brothers let in secretly, who came searching out our free condition which we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might make servants of us;
• Eph 4:14 : 14 So that we may be no longer children, sent this way and that, turned about by every wind of teaching, by the twisting and tricks of men, by the deceits of error;
• Eph 5:6 : 6 Do not be turned from the right way by foolish words; for because of these things the punishment of God comes on those who do not put themselves under him.
• Phil 3:2 : 2 Be on the watch against dogs, against the workers of evil, against those of the circumcision:
• 1 Tim 4:1-3 : 1 But the Spirit says clearly that in later times some will be turned away from the faith, giving their minds to spirits of deceit, and the teachings of evil spirits, 2 Through the false ways of men whose words are untrue, whose hearts are burned as with a heated iron; 3 Who keep men from being married and from taking food which God made to be taken with praise by those who have faith and true knowledge.
• 2 Tim 3:5-9 : 5 Having a form of religion, but turning their backs on the power of it: go not with these. 6 For these are they who go secretly into houses, making prisoners of foolish women, weighted down with sin, turned from the way by their evil desires, 7 Ever learning, and never coming to the knowledge of what is true. 8 And as James and Jambres went against Moses, so do these go against what is true: men of evil minds, who, tested by faith, are seen to be false. 9 But they will go no farther: for their foolish behaviour will be clear to all men, as theirs was in the end.
• 2 Tim 3:13 : 13 Evil and false men will become worse and worse, using deceit and themselves overcome by deceit.
• 2 Tim 4:3 : 3 For the time will come when they will not take the true teaching; but, moved by their desires, they will get for themselves a great number of teachers for the pleasure of hearing them;
• Luke 12:15 : 15 And he said to them, Take care to keep yourselves free from the desire for property; for a man's life is not made up of the number of things which he has.
• John 10:12 : 12 He who is a servant, and not the keeper or the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming and goes in flight, away from the sheep; and the wolf comes down on them and sends them in all directions:
• Rom 16:17-18 : 17 Now, it is my desire, brothers, that you will take note of those who are causing division and trouble among you, quite against the teaching which was given to you: and keep away from them. 18 For such people are not servants of the Lord Christ, but of their stomachs; and by their smooth and well-said words the hearts of those who have no knowledge of evil are tricked.
• Matt 24:24-25 : 24 For there will come up false Christs, and false prophets, who will do great signs and wonders; so that if possible even the saints might be tricked. 25 See, I have made it clear to you before it comes about.
• Mark 12:38-40 : 38 And in his teaching he said, Be on your watch against the scribes, whose pleasure it is to go about in long robes and be respected in the market-places, 39 And to have the chief seats in the Synagogues and the first places at feasts; 40 Who take away the property of widows, and before the eyes of men make long prayers; these will be judged more hardly.
• Rev 13:11-17 : 11 And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and his voice was like that of a dragon. 12 And he makes use of all the authority of the first beast before his eyes. And he makes the earth and those who are in it give worship to the first beast, whose death-wound was made well. 13 And he does great signs, even making fire come down from heaven on the earth before the eyes of men. 14 And those who are on the earth are turned from the true way by him through the signs which he was given power to do before the beast; giving orders to those who are on the earth to make an image to the beast, who was wounded by the sword, and came to life. 15 And he had power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that words might come from the image of the beast, and that he might have all those who did not give worship to the image of the beast put to death. 16 And he gives to all, small and great, the poor and those who have wealth, the free and those who are not free, a mark on their right hand or on their brows; 17 So that no man might be able to do trade but he who has the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name.
• Rev 16:13 : 13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, like frogs.
• Rev 17:6 : 6 And I saw the woman overcome as with the wine of the blood of the saints, and the blood of those put to death because of Jesus. And when I saw her, I was overcome with a great wonder.
• Acts 13:40 : 40 So take care that these words of the prophets do not come true for you;
• 2 Pet 2:18-19 : 18 For with high-sounding false words, making use of the attraction of unclean desires of the flesh, they get into their power those newly made free from those who are living in error; 19 Saying that they will be free, while they themselves are the servants of destruction; because whatever gets the better of a man makes a servant of him.
• Acts 13:6 : 6 And when they had gone through all the island to Paphos, they came across a certain wonder-worker and false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus;
• Ezek 13:22 : 22 Because with your false words you have given pain to the heart of the upright man when I had not made him sad; in order to make strong the hands of the evil-doer so that he may not be turned from his evil way and get life:
• Isa 56:10-11 : 10 His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dogs without tongues, unable to make a sound; stretched out dreaming, loving sleep. 11 Yes, the dogs are for ever looking for food; while these, the keepers of the sheep, are without wisdom: they have all gone after their pleasure, every one looking for profit; they are all the same.