Matthew 6
6
Showy religion
1 “Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 “Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. 3But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.
Showy prayer
5 “When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. 6But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.
Proper prayer
7 “When you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words, as the Gentiles do. They think that by saying many words they’ll be heard. 8Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask. 9Pray like this:
Our Father who is in heaven,
uphold the holiness of your name.
10 Bring in your kingdom
so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven.
11 Give us the bread we need for today.
12 Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,
just as we also forgive those who have wronged us.
13 And don’t lead us into temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
14 “If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you don’t forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your sins.
Showy fasting
16 “And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. 17When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. 18Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Earthly and heavenly treasures
19 “Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. 20Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. 21Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Seeing and serving
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how terrible that darkness will be! 24No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Worry about necessities
25 “Therefore, I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, or about your body, what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? 27Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? 28And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. 29But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. 30If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, won’t God do much more for you, you people of weak faith? 31Therefore, don’t worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32Gentiles long for all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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Matthew 6: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Matthew 6
6
Do Good to Please God
1“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2Therefore, #Rom. 12:8when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret #Luke 14:12–14will Himself reward you openly.
The Model Prayer
5“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6But you, when you pray, #2 Kin. 4:33go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7And when you pray, #Eccl. 5:2do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. #1 Kin. 18:26For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father #(Rom. 8:26, 27)knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9In this #Matt. 6:9–13; Luke 11:2–4; (John 16:24; Eph. 6:18; Jude 20)manner, therefore, pray:
#(Matt. 5:9, 16)Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your #Mal. 1:11name.
10Your kingdom come.
#Matt. 26:42; Luke 22:42; Acts 21:14Your will be done
On earth #Ps. 103:20as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our #(Job 23:12); Prov. 30:8; Is. 33:16; Luke 11:3daily bread.
12And #(Matt. 18:21, 22)forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13#(Matt. 26:41; 1 Cor. 10:31; 2 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 3:10)And do not lead us into temptation,
But #John 17:15; (2 Thess. 3:3); 2 Tim. 4:18; (1 John 5:18)deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14#(Matt. 7:2); Mark 11:25; (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13)“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But #Matt. 18:35; James 2:13if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Fasting to Be Seen Only by God
16“Moreover, #Is. 58:3–7; Luke 18:12when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17But you, when you fast, #Ruth 3:3; 2 Sam. 12:20; Dan. 10:3anoint your head and wash your face, 18so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
19#Prov. 23:4; (1 Tim. 6:17; Heb. 13:5); James 5:1“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20#Matt. 19:21; Luke 12:33; 18:22; 1 Tim. 6:19; 1 Pet. 1:4but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Lamp of the Body
22#Luke 11:34, 35“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
You Cannot Serve God and Riches
24#Luke 16:9, 11, 13“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. #(Gal. 1:10; 1 Tim. 6:17; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15)You cannot serve God and mammon.
Do Not Worry
25“Therefore I say to you, #(Ps. 55:22); Luke 12:22; (Phil. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:7)do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26#Job 38:41; Ps. 147:9; Matt. 10:29; Luke 12:24Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But #1 Kin. 3:13; Luke 12:31; (1 Tim. 4:8)seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.