Matthew 6
6
Jesus Teaches About Giving
1“Be careful! When you do good things, don’t do them in front of people to be seen by them. If you do that, then you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2“When you give to the poor, don’t be like the hypocrites. They blow trumpets before they give so that people will see them. They do that in the synagogues and on the streets. They want other people to honor them. I tell you the truth. Those hypocrites already have their full reward. 3So when you give to the poor, give very secretly. Don’t let anyone know what you are doing. 4Your giving should be done in secret. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.
Jesus Teaches About Prayer
5“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray loudly. They want people to see them pray. I tell you the truth. They already have their full reward. 6When you pray, you should go into your room and close the door. Then pray to your Father who cannot be seen. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.
7“And when you pray, don’t be like those people who don’t know God. They continue saying things that mean nothing. They think that God will hear them because of the many things they say. 8Don’t be like them. Your Father knows the things you need before you ask him. 9So when you pray, you should pray like this:
‘Our Father in heaven,
we pray that your name will always be kept holy.
10We pray that your kingdom will come.
We pray that what you want will be done,
here on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us the food we need for each day.
12Forgive the sins we have done,
just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us.
13And do not cause us to be tested;
but save us from the Evil One.’
[The kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours forever. Amen.]# Some Greek copies do not contain the bracketed text.
14Yes, if you forgive others for the things they do wrong, then your Father in heaven will also forgive you for the things you do wrong. 15But if you don’t forgive the wrongs of others, then your Father in heaven will not forgive the wrong things you do.
Jesus Teaches About Worship
16“When you give up eating,# This is called “fasting.” The people would give up eating for a special time of prayer and worship to God. It was also done to show sadness. don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They make their faces look strange to show people that they are giving up eating. I tell you the truth, those hypocrites already have their full reward. 17So when you give up eating, comb your hair and wash your face. 18Then people will not know that you are giving up eating. But your Father, whom you cannot see, will see you. Your Father sees what is done in secret, and he will reward you.
God Is More Important Than Money
19“Don’t store treasures for yourselves here on earth. Moths and rust will destroy treasures here on earth. And thieves can break into your house and steal the things you have. 20So store your treasure in heaven. The treasures in heaven cannot be destroyed by moths or rust. And thieves cannot break in and steal that treasure. 21Your heart will be where your treasure is.
22“The eye is a light for the body. If your eyes are good, then your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are evil, then your whole body will be full of darkness. And if the only light you have is really darkness, then you have the worst darkness.
24“No one can be a slave to two masters. He will hate one master and love the other. Or he will follow one master and refuse to follow the other. So you cannot serve God and money at the same time.
Don’t Worry
25“So I tell you, don’t worry about the food you need to live. And don’t worry about the clothes you need for your body. Life is more important than food. And the body is more important than clothes. 26Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns. But your heavenly Father feeds the birds. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds. 27You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.
28“And why do you worry about clothes? Look at the flowers in the field. See how they grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves. 29But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. 30God clothes the grass in the field like that. The grass is living today, but tomorrow it is thrown into the fire to be burned. So you can be even more sure that God will clothe you. Don’t have so little faith! 31Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32All the people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things. And your Father in heaven knows that you need them. 33The thing you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you. 34So don’t worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Tomorrow will have its own worries.
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Matthew 6: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Matthew 6
6
1 #
Mt 23.5. “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2“Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4#Col 3.23-24. so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5 #
Mk 11.25; Lk 18.10-14. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 #
1 Kings 18.25-29. “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8#Mt 6.32; Lk 12.30. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9#Lk 11.2-4. Pray then like this:
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread;#6.11 Or our bread for the morrow
12And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors;
13 #
2 Thess 3.3; Jn 17.15; Jas 1.13. And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.#6.13 Or the evil one. Other authorities, some ancient, add, in some form, For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 #
Mt 18.35; Mk 11.25; Eph 4.32; Col 3.13. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; 15but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 #
Is 58.5. “And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18#Mt 6.4,6. that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
19 #
Lk 12.33-34; Mk 10.21; 1 Tim 6.17-19; Jas 5.1-3. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust#6.19 Or worm consume and where thieves break in and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust#6.20 Or worm consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 #
Lk 11.34-36; Mt 20.15; Mk 7.22. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; 23but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 #
Lk 16.13. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.#6.24 Mammonis a Semitic word for money or riches
25 #
Lk 12.22-31; 10.41; 12.11; Phil 4.6; 1 Pet 5.7. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26#Mt 10.29. Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27#Ps 39.5. And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?#6.27 Or to his stature 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; 29#1 Kings 10.4-7. yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30#Mt 8.26; 14.31; 16.8. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33#Mt 19.28; Mk 10.29-30; Lk 18.29-30. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
34“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America