Matthew 6
6
Giving
1 #
Mt 23.5. When you do good deeds, don't try to show off. If you do, you won't get a reward from your Father in heaven.
2When you give to the poor, don't blow a loud horn. That's what show-offs do in the synagogues and on the street corners, because they are always looking for praise. I can assure you that they already have their reward.
3When you give to the poor, don't let anyone know about it.#6.3 don't let anyone know about it: The Greek text has, “Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” 4Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret and will reward you.
Prayer
(Luke 11.2-4)
5 #
Lk 18.10-14. When you pray, don't be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward.
6When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private and will reward you.
7 #
Si 7.14. When you pray, don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. 8Don't be like them. Your Father knows what you need even before you ask.
9You should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
help us to honor
your name.
10Come and set up
your kingdom,
so that everyone on earth
will obey you,
as you are obeyed
in heaven.
11Give us our food for today.#6.11 our food for today: Or “the food that we need” or “our food for the coming day.”
12Forgive us for doing wrong,
as we forgive others.
13Keep us from being tempted#6.13 tempted: Or “tested.”
and protect us from evil.#6.13 evil: Or “the evil one,” that is, the devil. Some manuscripts add, “The kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours forever. Amen.”
14 #
Mk 11.25,26. #Si 28.1-5. If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you. 15But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Worshiping God by Going without Eating
16When you go without eating,#6.16 without eating: See the note at 4.2. don't try to look gloomy as those show-offs do when they go without eating. I can assure you that they already have their reward. 17#Jdt 10.3. Instead, comb your hair and wash your face. 18Then others won't know you are going without eating. But your Father sees what is done in private, and he will reward you.
Treasures in Heaven
(Luke 12.33,34)
19 #
Jas 5.2,3. Don't store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. 20#Si 29.11. Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. 21Your heart will always be where your treasure is.
Light
(Luke 11.34-36)
22Your eyes are a window for your body. When they are good, you have all the light you need. 23But when your eyes are bad, everything is dark. If the light inside you is dark, you surely are in the dark.
Money
(Luke 16.13)
24You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Worry
(Luke 12.22-31)
25I tell you not to worry about your life. Don't worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food or clothing? 26Look at the birds in the sky! They don't plant or harvest. They don't even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren't you worth much more than birds?
27Can worry make you live longer?#6.27 live longer: Or “grow taller.” 28Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don't work hard to make their clothes. 29#1 K 10.4-7; 2 Ch 9.3-6. But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth#6.29 Solomon with all his wealth: The Jewish people thought that Solomon was the richest person who had ever lived. wasn't as well clothed as one of them. 30God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. God will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith?
31Don't worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” 32Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows you need all of these. 33But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.
34Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.
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Matthew 6: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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