Matthew 6
6
Concerning Charitable Giving
1“Be sure that you do not do your righteous deeds before men to be seen by them. # Mt 23:5 Otherwise you have no reward # Mt 6:16 from your Father who is in heaven.
2“Therefore, when you do your charitable deeds, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. # Jn 5:44 Truly I say to you, they have their reward. # Mt 6:5 3But when you do your charitable deeds, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your righteous deeds may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. # Mt 6:6, 18
The Lord’s Prayer
Lk 11:1–4
5“When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing # Mk 11:25 in the synagogues and on the street corners that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. # Mt 6:16 6But you, when you pray, enter your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret. # 2Ki 4:33; Isa 26:20 And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions, as the heathen do. # 1Ki 18:26–29 For they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him. # Ps 38:9; Mt 6:32
9“Pray then in this manner:
Our Father, who is in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
10Your kingdom come; # Mt 3:2; 4:17
Your will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread. # Pr 30:8; Isa 33:16
12And forgive us our debts, # Ex 34:7; Ps 32:1
as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, # 1Co 10:13
but deliver us from the evil one. # Jn 17:15
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. # Mk 11:25; Eph 4:32 15But if you do not forgive men for their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. # Mt 18:35
Concerning Fasting
16“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces so they may appear to men to be fasting. # Ps 35:13 Truly I say to you, they have their reward. # Mt 6:2 17But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18so that you will not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. # Mt 6:4, 6
Treasures in Heaven
Lk 12:33–34
19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth # Lk 12:21; Heb 13:5 where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, # Mt 19:21; Lk 12:33 where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in nor steal, 21for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. # Lk 12:34
The Light of the Body
Lk 11:34–36
22“The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eye is unhealthy, # Mt 20:15; Mk 7:22 your whole body will be full of darkness. Therefore, if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
God and Money
24“No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. # Lk 16:13
Care and Anxiety
Lk 12:22–34
25“Therefore, I say to you, take no thought about your life, # Php 4:6 what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. # Mt 6:31, 34 Is not life more than food and the body than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air, for they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? # Job 38:41; Ps 147:9 27Who among you by taking thought can add one cubit # 6:27 A cubit is about half a meter. to his stature?
28“Why take thought about clothing? # Mt 6:25, 31 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither spin nor weave. 29Yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. # 1Ki 10:4–7; 2Ch 9:4–6 30Therefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is here and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? # Mt 8:26; 14:31 31Therefore, take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ # 1Pe 5:7 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. # Mt 6:8; Lk 12:30 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you. # 1Ki 3:11–13 34Therefore, take no thought about tomorrow, # Mt 6:25 for tomorrow will take thought about the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the trouble thereof.
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Matthew 6: MEV
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version
Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.
Matthew 6
6
The World Is Not a Stage
1“Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.
2-4“When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—‘playactors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.
Pray with Simplicity
5“And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for fifteen minutes of fame! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
6“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
7-13“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
14-15“In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.
16-18“When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint. If you ‘go into training’ inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn’t require attention-getting devices. He won’t overlook what you are doing; he’ll reward you well.
A Life of God-Worship
19-21“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
22-23“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a musty cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
24“You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.
25-26“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29“Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.