Matthew 6

Chapter 6

¹Take heed not to do your alms before men to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens. ²When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ³But thou, when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand does; ⁴so that thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret will render it to thee.

⁵And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets so that they should appear to men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ⁶But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret will render it to thee. ⁷But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as those who are of the nations: for they think they shall be heard through their much speaking. ⁸Be not ye therefore like them, for your Father knows of what things ye have need before ye beg anything of him.

⁹Thus therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in the heavens, let thy name be sanctified, ¹⁰let thy kingdom come, let thy will be done as in heaven so upon the earth; ¹¹give us to-day our needed bread, ¹²and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors, ¹³and lead us not into temptation, but save us from evil. ¹⁴For if ye forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father also will forgive you yours, ¹⁵but if ye do not forgive men their offences, neither will your Father forgive your offences.

¹⁶And when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, downcast in countenance; for they disfigure their faces, so that they may appear fasting to men: verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ¹⁷But thou, when fasting, anoint thy head and wash thy face, ¹⁸so that thou mayest not appear fasting unto men, but to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret shall render it to thee.

¹⁹Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust spoils, and where thieves dig through and steal; ²⁰but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust spoils, and where thieves do not dig through nor steal; ²¹for where thy treasure is, there will be also thy heart. ²²The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body will be light: ²³but if thine eye be wicked, thy whole body will be dark. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great the darkness! ²⁴No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and will love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

²⁵For this cause I say unto you, Do not be careful about your life, what ye should eat and what ye should drink; nor for your body what ye should put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than raiment? ²⁶Look at the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, nor reap, nor gather into granaries, and your heavenly Father nourishes them. Are ye not much more excellent than they? ²⁷But which of you by carefulness can add to his growth one cubit? ²⁸And why are ye careful about clothing? Observe with attention the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; ²⁹but I say unto you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothe the herbage of the field, which is to-day, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, will he not much rather you, O ye of little faith? ³¹Be not therefore careful, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we put on? ³²for all these things the nations seek after; for your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things. ³³But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. ³⁴Be not careful therefore for the morrow, for the morrow shall be careful about itself. Sufficient to the day is its own evil.