Matthew 7:15

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

A Tree and Its Fruit“Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious 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 Testing the Spirits Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
• 2 Pet 2:1-3 : 1 The False Teachers’ Ungodly Lifestyle But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring swift destruction on themselves. 2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles. Because of these false teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their destruction is not asleep.
• Matt 24:11 : 11 And many false prophets will appear and deceive many,
• Col 2:8 : 8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
• Deut 13:1-3 : 1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely,“Let us follow other gods”– gods whom you have not previously known–“and let us serve them.” 3 You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, for the LORD your God will be testing you to see if you love him with all your mind and being.
• Acts 20:29-31 : 29 I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears.
• Mark 13:22-23 : 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the elect. 23 Be careful! I have told you everything ahead of time.
• Luke 6:26 : 26 “Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for their ancestors did the same things to the false prophets.
• 2 Cor 11:13-15 : 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions.
• Mic 3:5-7 : 5 This is what the LORD has said about the prophets who mislead my people,“If someone gives them enough to eat, they offer an oracle of peace. But if someone does not give them food, they are ready to declare war on him. 6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. 7 The prophets will be ashamed; the omen readers will be humiliated. All of them will cover their mouths, for they will receive no divine oracles.”
• Mic 3:11 : 11 Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the LORD and say,“The LORD is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!”
• 2 Pet 3:17 : 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men and fall from your firm grasp on the truth.
• Jude 1:4 : 4 For certain men have secretly slipped in among you– men who long ago were marked out for the condemnation I am about to describe– ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
• Rev 19:20 : 20 Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf– signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.
• Ezek 22:27 : 27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey– shedding blood and destroying lives– so they can get dishonest profit.
• Ezek 22:25 : 25 Her princes within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it.
• Isa 9:15-16 : 15 The leaders and the highly respected people are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail. 16 The leaders of this nation were misleading people, and the people being led were destroyed.
• Jer 14:14-16 : 14 Then the LORD said to me,“Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority! I did not send them. I did not commission them. I did not speak to them. They are prophesying to these people false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own mind. 15 I did not send those prophets, though they claim to be prophesying in my name. They may be saying,‘No war or famine will happen in this land.’ But I, the LORD, say this about them:‘War and starvation will kill those prophets.’ 16 The people to whom they are prophesying will die through war and famine. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to the men and their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out on them the destruction they deserve.”
• Jer 23:13-16 : 13 The LORD says,“I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something that was disgusting. They prophesied in the name of the god Baal and led my people Israel astray. 14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something just as shocking. They are unfaithful to me and continually prophesy lies. So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil, with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom, and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah. 15 So then I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem:‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason that ungodliness has spread throughout the land.’” 16 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says to the people of Jerusalem:“Do not listen to what those prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They are reporting visions of their own imaginations, not something the LORD has given them to say.
• Jer 28:15-17 : 15 Then the prophet Jeremiah told the prophet Hananiah,“Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you! You are making these people trust in a lie! 16 So the LORD says,‘I will most assuredly remove you from the face of the earth. You will die this very year because you have counseled rebellion against the LORD.’” 17 In the seventh month of that very same year the prophet Hananiah died.
• Jer 29:21 : 21 “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel also has something to say about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so.‘I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and he will execute them before your very eyes.
• Jer 29:32 : 32 Because he has done this,” the LORD says,“I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. There will not be any of them left to experience the good things that I will do for my people. I, the LORD, affirm it! For he counseled rebellion against the LORD.”’”
• Ezek 13:16 : 16 those prophets of Israel who would prophesy about Jerusalem and would see visions of peace for it, when there was no peace,” declares the Sovereign LORD.’
• Zeph 3:3-4 : 3 Her princes are as fierce as roaring lions; her rulers are as hungry as wolves in the desert, who completely devour their prey by morning. 4 Her prophets are proud; they are deceitful men. Her priests have defiled what is holy; they have broken God’s laws.
• Zech 13:4 : 4 “Therefore, on that day each prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies and will no longer wear the hairy garment of a prophet to deceive the people.
• Matt 10:17 : 17 Beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues.
• Matt 16:6 : 6 “Watch out,” Jesus said to them,“beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
• Matt 16:11 : 11 How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”
• Matt 24:4-5 : 4 Jesus answered them,“Watch out that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying,‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many.
• Gal 2:4 : 4 Now this matter arose because of the false brothers with false pretenses who slipped in unnoticed to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves.
• Eph 4:14 : 14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.
• Eph 5:6 : 6 Live in the Light Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience.
• Phil 3:2 : 2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!
• 1 Tim 4:1-3 : 1 Timothy’s Ministry in the Later Times Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, 2 influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. 3 They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
• 2 Tim 3:5-9 : 5 They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these. 6 For some of these insinuate themselves into households and captivate weak women who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions. 7 Such women are always seeking instruction, yet never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people– who have warped minds and are disqualified in the faith– also oppose the truth. 9 But they will not go much further, for their foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and Jambres.
• 2 Tim 3:13 : 13 But evil people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves.
• 2 Tim 4:3 : 3 For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.
• Luke 12:15 : 15 Then he said to them,“Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed, because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
• John 10:12 : 12 The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.
• Rom 16:17-18 : 17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them! 18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of the naive.
• Matt 24:24-25 : 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 Remember, I have told you ahead of time.
• Mark 12:38-40 : 38 Warnings About Experts in the Law In his teaching Jesus also said,“Watch out for the experts in the law. They like walking around in long robes and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, 39 and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ property, and as a show make long prayers. These men will receive a more severe punishment.”
• Rev 13:11-17 : 11 Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. 12 He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. 13 He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people 14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. 15 The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He also caused everyone(small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. 17 Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast– that is, his name or his number.
• Rev 16:13 : 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
• Rev 17:6 : 6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. I was greatly astounded when I saw her.
• Acts 13:40 : 40 Watch out, then, that what is spoken about by the prophets does not happen to you:
• 2 Pet 2:18-19 : 18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words they are able to entice, with fleshly desires and with debauchery, people who have just escaped from those who reside in error. 19 Although these false teachers promise such people freedom, they themselves are enslaved to immorality. For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.
• Acts 13:6 : 6 When they had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
• Ezek 13:22 : 22 This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies(although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.
• Isa 56:10-11 : 10 All their watchmen are blind, they are unaware. All of them are like mute dogs, unable to bark. They pant, lie down, and love to snooze. 11 The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain.