What did Jesus say about judging others?

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:1-5), Jesus taught about judging others with the well-known instruction: "Judge not, that you be not judged." He continued by explaining that the standard of judgment a person uses toward others will be applied to them in return: "For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."

Jesus illustrated this principle with the metaphor of a speck and a log. He asked why someone would notice a speck of sawdust in another person's eye while ignoring the log in their own eye. The teaching is not a blanket prohibition against all moral discernment but a warning against hypocritical, harsh, or self-righteous judgment of others when one's own faults remain unaddressed.

The other options do not represent what Jesus specifically said about judging. "Always correct others" and "judge harshly" contradict the teaching. "Publicly expose sin" is also contrary to the spirit of the passage. The correct formulation pairs the act of judging with a reciprocal consequence, making the phrasing "Judge not, lest you be judged" the accurate answer.