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 "Pay attention, lest you perform your justice before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you shall not have a reward with your Father, who is in heaven.
2 Therefore, when you give alms, do not choose to sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the towns, so that they may be honored by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.
3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your almsgiving may be in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.
5 And when you pray, you should not be like the hypocrites, who love standing in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets to pray, so that they may be seen by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.
6 But you, when you pray, enter into your room, and having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.
7 And when praying, do not choose many words, as the pagans do. For they think that by their excess of words they might be heeded.
8 Therefore, do not choose to imitate them. For your Father knows what your needs may be, even before you ask him.
9 Therefore, you shall pray in this way: Our Father, who is in heaven: May your name be kept holy.
10 May your kingdom come. May your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.
11 Give us this day our life-sustaining bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation. But free us from evil. Amen.
14 For if you will forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father also will forgive you your offenses.
15 But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your sins.
16 And when you fast, do not choose to become gloomy, like the hypocrites. For they alter their faces, so that their fasting may be apparent to men. Amen I say to you, that they have received their reward.
17 But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 so that your fasting will not be apparent to men, but to your Father, who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.
19 Do not choose to store up for yourselves treasures on earth: where rust and moth consume, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 Instead, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither rust nor moth consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there also is your heart.
22 The lamp of your body is your eye. If your eye is wholesome, your entire body will be filled with light.
23 But if your eye has been corrupted, your entire body will be darkened. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great will that darkness be!
24 No one is able to serve two masters. For either he will have hatred for the one, and love the other, or he will persevere with the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
25 And so I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, as to what you will eat, nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 Consider the birds of the air, how they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much greater value than they are?
27 And which of you, by thinking, is able to add one cubit to his stature?
28 And as for clothing, why are you anxious? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither work nor weave.
29 But I say to you, that not even Solomon, in all his glory, was arrayed like one of these.
30 So if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and cast into the oven tomorrow, how much more will he care for you, O little in faith?
31 Therefore, do not choose to be anxious, saying: 'What shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and with what shall we be clothed?'
32 For the Gentiles seek all these things. Yet your Father knows that you need all these things.
33 Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added to you as well.
34 Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow; for the future day will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its evil."
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