Matthew 6–7

HOW TO GIVE

6“Be careful not to practice your righteousness^K in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with 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. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.^{s 3}But 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.^At

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. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.^{u 6}But 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.^{Bv 7}When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words.^{w 8}Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.^x

THE LORD’S PRAYER

⁹“Therefore, you should pray like this:^y

Our Father in heaven,

your name be honored as holy.^z

¹⁰Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.^aa

¹¹Give us today our daily bread.^C

¹²And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.^a

¹³And do not bring us into^D temptation,^b

but deliver us from the evil one.^Ec

¹⁴“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.^{d 15}But if you don’t forgive others,^F your Father will not forgive your offenses.

HOW TO FAST

¹⁶“Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they make their faces^e unattractive so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. ¹⁷But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,^{f 18}so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.^B

GOD AND POSSESSIONS

¹⁹“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures^G on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.^{g 20}But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,^h 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 healthy, 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!ⁱ

²⁴“No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.^j

THE CURE FOR ANXIETY

²⁵“Therefore I tell you:^k 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?^{l 26}Consider 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?^{m 27}Can any of you add one moment to his life span^A by worrying? ²⁸And why do you worry about clothes? Observe 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?^{n 31}So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³²For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God^Bo and his righteousness,^p and all these things will be provided for you.^{q 34}Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble^r of its own.

DO NOT JUDGE

7“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.^{s 2}For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.^{t 3}Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye?^{u 4}Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? ⁵Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. ⁶Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs,^v or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

ASK, SEARCH, KNOCK

⁷“Ask,^w and it will be given to you.^x Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door^C will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds,^y and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you then, who are evil,^z know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him. ¹²Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.^aa

ENTERING THE KINGDOM

¹³“Enter through the narrow gate.^a For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,^b and there are many who go through it. ¹⁴How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

¹⁵“Be on your guard against false prophets^c who come to you in sheep’s^d clothing^e but inwardly are ravaging wolves.^{f 16}You’ll recognize them by their fruit.^g Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?^{h 17}In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.^{i 20}So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.^j

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,^k but only the one who does the will^l of my Father in heaven.^{m 22}On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demonsⁿ in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’^{o 23}Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’^ABp

THE TWO FOUNDATIONS

²⁴“Therefore,^q everyone who hears these words^r of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. ²⁶But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things,^s the crowds were astonished at his teaching,^{t 29}because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.