Matthew 6
6
Teaching about Giving to the Needy
1 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Teaching about Prayer and Fasting
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! 9Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need, # 6:11 Or Give us today our food for the day; or Give us today our food for tomorrow.
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, # 6:13a Or And keep us from being tested.
but rescue us from the evil one. # 6:13b Or from evil. Some manuscripts add For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
16 “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. 17But when you fast, comb your hair#6:17 Greek anoint your head. and wash your face. 18Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Teaching about Money and Possessions
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. 23But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!
24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33Seek the Kingdom of God#6:33 Some manuscripts do not include of God. above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
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Matthew 6: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Matthew 6
6
1‘Take heed your kindness not to do before men, to be seen by them, and if not — reward ye have not from your Father who [is] in the heavens;
2whenever, therefore, thou mayest do kindness, thou mayest not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory from men; verily I say to you — they have their reward!
3‘But thou, doing kindness, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth,
4that thy kindness may be in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret Himself shall reward thee manifestly.
5‘And when thou mayest pray, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites, because they love in the synagogues, and in the corners of the broad places — standing — to pray, that they may be seen of men; verily I say to you, that they have their reward.
6‘But thou, when thou mayest pray, go into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who [is] in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly.
7‘And — praying — ye may not use vain repetitions like the nations, for they think that in their much speaking they shall be heard,
8be ye not therefore like to them, for your Father doth know those things that ye have need of before your asking him;
9thus therefore pray ye: ‘Our Father who [art] in the heavens! hallowed be Thy name.
10‘Thy reign come: Thy will come to pass, as in heaven also on the earth.
11‘Our appointed bread give us to-day.
12‘And forgive us our debts, as also we forgive our debtors.
13‘And mayest Thou not lead us to temptation, but deliver us from the evil, because Thine is the reign, and the power, and the glory — to the ages. Amen.
14‘For, if ye may forgive men their trespasses He also will forgive you — your Father who [is] in the heavens;
15but if ye may not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16‘And when ye may fast, be ye not as the hypocrites, of sour countenances, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men fasting; verily I say to you, that they have their reward.
17‘But thou, fasting, anoint thy head, and wash thy face,
18that thou mayest not appear to men fasting, but to thy Father who [is] in secret, and thy Father, who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly.
19‘Treasure not up to yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust disfigure, and where thieves break through and steal,
20but treasure up to yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth disfigure, and where thieves do not break through nor steal,
21for where your treasure is, there will be also your heart.
22‘The lamp of the body is the eye, if, therefore, thine eye may be perfect, all thy body shall be enlightened,
23but if thine eye may be evil, all thy body shall be dark; if, therefore, the light that [is] in thee is darkness — the darkness, how great!
24‘None is able to serve two lords, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one, and despise the other; ye are not able to serve God and Mammon.
25‘Because of this I say to you, be not anxious for your life, what ye may eat, and what ye may drink, nor for your body, what ye may put on. Is not the life more than the nourishment, and the body than the clothing?
26look to the fowls of the heaven, for they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into storehouses, and your heavenly Father doth nourish them; are not ye much better than they?
27‘And who of you, being anxious, is able to add to his age one cubit?
28and about clothing why are ye anxious? consider well the lilies of the field; how do they grow? they do not labour, nor do they spin;
29and I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.
30‘And if the herb of the field, that to-day is, and to-morrow is cast to the furnace, God doth so clothe — not much more you, O ye of little faith?
31therefore ye may not be anxious, saying, What may we eat? or, What may we drink? or, What may we put round?
32for all these do the nations seek for, for your heavenly Father doth know that ye have need of all these;
33but seek ye first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added to you.
34Be not therefore anxious for the morrow, for the morrow shall be anxious for its own things; sufficient for the day [is] the evil of it.
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