Matthew 6
6
How to Give
1“Be careful not to practice your righteousness # Other mss read charitable giving in front of people, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! # Mt 23:5; Lk 6:24 3But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. # Other mss read will Himself reward you openly # Jr 17:10; Lk 14:14; Col 3:23-24; Heb 4:13
How to Pray
5“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! # Mt 6:16; Mk 11:25; Lk 6:24; 18:11 6But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. # Other mss add openly # 2Kg 4:33; Is 26:20; Mt 6:18 7When you pray, don’t babble like the idolaters, # Or Gentiles, or nations, or heathen, or pagans since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. # 1Kg 18:26; Ec 5:2 8Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him. # Mt 9:12; Mk 2:17; Lk 5:31; 9:11; 10:42; Ac 2:45
The Model Prayer
9“Therefore, you should pray like this: # Lk 11:1-13
Our Father in heaven,
Your name be honored as holy. # Lk 11:2; 1Co 7:14
10Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. # Ps 103:20; Mt 3:2; 4:17; 26:42; Lk 22:42; Ac 21:14
11Give us today our daily bread. # Or our necessary bread, or our bread for tomorrow
12And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. # Pr 30:8; Rm 4:4; Gl 5:3
13And do not bring us into # Or do not cause us to come into temptation, # Mt 26:41; 1Co 10:13; 2Pt 2:9
but deliver us from the evil one. # Or from evil # Mt 5:37; Jn 17:15; 2Th 3:3; 2Tm 4:18
For Yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen. # Other mss omit bracketed text
14“For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, # Or trespasses your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. # Mk 11:25; Eph 4:32; Col 3:13 15But if you don’t forgive people, # Other mss add their wrongdoing your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing. # Or trespasses
How to Fast
16“Whenever you fast, don’t be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive # Or unrecognizable, or disfigured # Is 58:5; Mt 18:35; Jms 2:13 so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! 17But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face, # Ru 3:3; 2Sm 12:20; Dn 10:3 18so that you don’t show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. # Other mss add openly
God and Possessions
19“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures # Or valuables on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. # Pr 23:4; Heb 13:5 20But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, # Mt 19:21; Lk 12:33; 18:22; 1Tm 6:19 where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If 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. So if the light within you is darkness — how deep is that darkness! # Mt 4:16; 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; 27:45
24“No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money. # Lk 16:13; Gl 1:10; Jms 4:4
The Cure for Anxiety
25“This is why I tell you: # Lk 12:22-31 Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? # Lk 10:41; Php 4:6; 1Pt 5:7 26Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? # Jb 38:41; Ps 147:9; Mt 10:29-31 27Can any of you add a single cubit to his height # Or add one moment to his life-span by worrying? 28And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 30If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you — you of little faith? # 1Kg 10:4-7; Mt 8:26; 14:31; 16:8 31So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear? ’ 32For the idolaters # Or Gentiles, or nations, or heathen, or pagans eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first the kingdom of God # Other mss omit of God # Mk 1:15; Ac 20:25 and His righteousness, # Mt 27:19; Lk 7:29; 23:41,47; Jn 5:30; 17:25; Ac 3:14 and all these things will be provided for you. # 1Kg 3:13; Mt 19:28; Mk 10:29; Lk 18:29; 1Tm 4:8 34Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble # Mt 6:25; Lk 10:41; Php 4:6; 1Pt 5:7 of its own.
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Matthew 6: HCSB
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Matthew 6
6
Giving to the Poor and Prayer
1 “Be [very]careful not to do your #6:1 Lit righteousness before men.good deeds publicly, to be seen by men; otherwise you will have no reward [prepared and awaiting you] with your Father who is in heaven.
2 “So whenever you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not blow a trumpet before you [to advertise it], as the hypocrites do [like actors acting out a role] in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored and recognized and praised by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already]have their reward in full. 3But when you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing [give in complete secrecy], 4so that your charitable acts will be done in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.
5 “Also, when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray [publicly]standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets so that they may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already]have their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. [1 Kin 18:25-29] 8So do not be like them [praying as they do]; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9 “Pray, then, # 6:9 I.e. as a model or pattern. in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
# 6:9 I.e. set apart, keep and treat as holy, revere. Hallowed be Your name. [Luke 11:2-4]
10‘#6:10 A plea for God’s kingdom to be inaugurated on earth.Your kingdom come,
Your # 6:10 Including what God wishes to be done by the individual believer—His commands and precepts. will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our # 6:11 I.e. life’s essentials. daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our # 6:12 I.e. sins, moral failures. debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].
13 ‘And do not # 6:13 I.e. lead us away from situations where we are vulnerable and have the opportunity to sin. God does not tempt man (see James 1:13) but does allow man to be tested. lead us into temptation, but deliver us from # 6:13 Or the evil one. evil. # 6:13 This clause is not found in early mss. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’ [Luke 11:2-4]
14 For if you forgive # 6:14 Gr anthropoi. others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses.
Fasting, The True Treasure, Wealth (Mammon)
16 “And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a sad and dismal face [like actors, discoloring their faces with ashes or dirt] so that their fasting may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already]have their reward in full. [Is 58:5] 17But when you fast, put oil on your head [as you normally would to groom your hair] and wash your face 18so that your fasting will not be noticed by people, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done]in secret will reward you.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves [material]treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store 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 [your wishes, your desires; that on which your life centers] will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so if your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive], your whole body will be full of light [benefiting from God’s precepts]. 23But if your eye is bad [spiritually blind], your whole body will be full of darkness [devoid of God’s precepts]. So if the [very]light inside you [your inner self, your heart, your conscience] is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness!
24 “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 [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].
The Cure for Anxiety
25 “Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? [Luke 12:22-31] 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed]nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops]into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27And who of you by worrying can add one #6:27 Lit cubit, here probably applied metaphorically to a lifespan.hour to [the length of]his life? [Ps 39:5-7] 28And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin [wool to make clothing], 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these. [1 Kin 10:4-7] 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive and green today and tomorrow is [cut and] thrown [as fuel] into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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