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.
Mattityahu (Mat) 6
6
1“Be careful not to parade your acts of tzedakah in front of people in order to be seen by them! If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2So, when you do tzedakah, don’t announce it with trumpets to win people’s praise, like the hypocrites in the synagogues and on the streets. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 3But you, when you do tzedakah, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4Then your tzedakah will be in secret; and your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you.
5“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners, so that people can see them. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 6But you, when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7“And when you pray, don’t babble on and on like the pagans, who think God will hear them better if they talk a lot. 8Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9You, therefore, pray like this:
‘Our Father in heaven!
May your Name be kept holy.
10May your Kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
11Give us the food we need today.
12Forgive us what we have done wrong,
as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us.
13And do not lead us into hard testing,
but keep us safe from the Evil One.
For kingship, power and glory are yours forever.
Amen.’
14For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.
16“Now when you fast, don’t go around looking miserable, like the hypocrites. They make sour faces so that people will know they are fasting. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 17But you, when you fast, wash your face and groom yourself, 18so that no one will know you are fasting — except your Father, who is with you in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
19“Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. 20Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. 21For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also. 22‘The eye is the lamp of the body.’ So if you have a ‘good eye’ [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; 23but if you have an ‘evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both God and money.
25“Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are? 27Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?
28“And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread, 29yet I tell you that not even Shlomo in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. 30If this is how God clothes grass in the field — which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in an oven — won’t he much more clothe you? What little trust you have!
31“So don’t be anxious, asking, ‘What will we eat?,’ ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘How will we be clothed?’ 32For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. 33But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Don’t worry about tomorrow — tomorrow will worry about itself! Today has enough tsuris already!
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