ELL Bible Study: Luke 6:43-49 — A Good Heart and a Strong Foundation

This Bible study lesson is for people who are learning English (ELL or ESL students). It is made for advanced beginner and intermediate English learners. Children who speak English or adults who prefer easy English may also enjoy it and learn from it, although I also have a Sunday School lesson on Luke 6:43-49 that may work better for native English speakers.

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Luke 6:43-49 Printable Discussion Questions

Lesson Icebreaker Question

Have you ever planted a tree or seen fruit growing on a tree? What kind of fruit was it, and what did it taste like?

Lesson Highlight

In this lesson, we will learn how Jesus talks about good hearts and wise choices. He teaches us how our words and actions show what is in our hearts and how to build our lives on strong, good foundations.

Vocabulary List (GNT)

Bad — Not good; wrong or harmful.
Bear — To produce or make something, like a tree growing fruit.
Bramble Bush — A wild plant with sharp thorns.
Build — To make something by putting parts together.
Crash — A loud, sudden noise when something breaks or falls.
Deep — Far down from the top or surface.
Dug — Past tense of dig; to make a hole in the ground.
Fell — Past tense of fall; to drop down to the ground.
Fig — A small, sweet fruit.
Flooded Over — When water rises and covers an area.
Foundation — The strong base at the bottom of a building.
Fruit — The part of a plant or tree that has seeds and can be eaten.
Gather — To collect things together.
Grapes — Small, round, sweet fruits that grow in bunches.
Good — Kind, nice, or helpful.
Healthy — Strong and in good condition.
Heart — The part inside where feelings and thoughts live.
Hit — To use your hand or something else to hurt someone.
House — A building where people live.
Laid — Put something down carefully.
Listen — To pay attention to sounds or words.
Lord — A name showing respect for God.
Mouth — The part of the face used for speaking and eating.
Obey — To do what you are told.
Pick — To take something off a plant by hand.
Poor — Not good in quality; weak.
River — A large, flowing stream of water.
Rock — A large, hard piece of earth or stone.
Shake — To move something quickly back and forth or up and down.
Speak — To use your voice to say words.
Tell — To give information with words.
Terrible — Very bad or awful.
Thorn Bush — A plant with sharp, hard points.
Treasure — Something very special or valuable.
Tree — A tall plant with a trunk, branches, and leaves.
Well — In a good or strong way.

Summary of the Passage

This passage shares more of Jesus’ teaching to the people. In the first part, Jesus talks about trees and fruit. He says that good trees make good fruit, and bad trees make bad fruit. People are like trees. If a person’s heart is good, they will speak kind and helpful words. If a person’s heart is bad, they will say hurtful things. What comes out of our mouths shows what is inside our hearts.

Then Jesus tells a short story about building houses. He says some people listen to his words and obey him. These people are like a wise builder who digs deep and builds his house on strong rock. When a big flood comes, the house stays standing because it has a strong foundation. But people who hear Jesus’ words and do not obey are like a man who builds his house without a foundation. When the flood comes, that house falls down with a loud crash.

This passage teaches us that our hearts and our choices matter. Good hearts bring out good words and actions. When we listen to Jesus and obey, our lives will be strong, like a house built on a rock.

Read The Passage

Most English learners should use the Easy-to-Read Version (ERV), New International Reader’s Version (NIRV), or the Good News Translation (GNT). If you want to try something harder, you can read one of the other Bible versions.

A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “A healthy tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a poor tree bear good fruit.
44 Every tree is known by the fruit it bears; you do not pick figs from thorn bushes or gather grapes from bramble bushes.
45 A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart; a bad person brings bad out of his treasure of bad things. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
The Two House Builders
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and yet don’t do what I tell you?
47 Anyone who comes to me and listens to my words and obeys them—I will show you what he is like.
48 He is like a man who, in building his house, dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. The river flooded over and hit that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
49 But anyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a man who built his house without laying a foundation; when the flood hit that house it fell at once—and what a terrible crash that was!”
Luke 6:43-49 (GNT)