Matthew 4–12

Chapter 4

The Temptation of Jesus

^1aThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^bto be tempted by the devil.

²And after He had ^afasted forty days and forty nights, He ¹then became hungry.

³And ^athe tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the ^bSon of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘^aMan shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”

⁵Then the devil took Him into ^athe holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,

⁶and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

‘^aHe will command His angels concerning You’;

and

‘On their hands they will bear You up,

So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ”

⁷Jesus said to him, “¹On the other hand, it is written, ‘^aYou shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

^8aAgain, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;

⁹and he said to Him, “^aAll these things I will give You, if You fall down and ¹worship me.”

¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘^aYou shall worship the Lord your God, and ¹serve Him only.’ ”

¹¹Then the devil left Him; and behold, ^aangels came and began to minister to Him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹²Now when Jesus heard that ^aJohn had been taken into custody, ^bHe withdrew into Galilee;

¹³and leaving Nazareth, He came and ^asettled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

¹⁴This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

¹⁵“^aThe land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

¹By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the ²Gentiles—

¹⁶“^aThe people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,

And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,

Upon them a Light dawned.”

^17aFrom that time Jesus began to ¹preach and say, “^bRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The First Disciples

^18aNow as Jesus was walking by ^bthe Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, ^cSimon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

¹⁹And He said to them, “¹Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

²¹Going on from there He saw two other brothers, ^1aJames the son of Zebedee, and ²John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.

²²Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Ministry in Galilee

²³Jesus was going ^athroughout all Galilee, ^bteaching in their synagogues and ^cproclaiming the ¹gospel of the kingdom, and ^dhealing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

²⁴The news about Him spread ^athroughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, ^bdemoniacs, ^1cepileptics, ^dparalytics; and He healed them.

²⁵Large crowds ^afollowed Him from Galilee and ^bthe Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from ^cbeyond the Jordan.

Chapter 5

The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes

^1aWhen Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on ^bthe ¹mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

^2aHe opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

³“^1aBlessed are the ²poor in spirit, for ^btheirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴“Blessed are ^athose who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵“Blessed are ^athe ¹gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶“Blessed are ^athose who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷“Blessed are ^athe merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸“Blessed are ^athe pure in heart, for ^bthey shall see God.

⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for ^athey shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰“Blessed are those who have been ^apersecuted for the sake of righteousness, for ^btheirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹“Blessed are you when people ^ainsult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

¹²“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for ^ain the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Disciples and the World

¹³“You are the salt of the earth; but ^aif the salt has become tasteless, how ¹can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

¹⁴“You are ^athe light of the world. A city set on a ¹hill cannot be hidden;

^15anor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a ¹basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

¹⁶“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may ^asee your good works, and ^bglorify your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷“Do not think that I came to abolish the ^aLaw or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

¹⁸“For truly I say to you, ^auntil heaven and earth pass away, not ¹the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

¹⁹“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches ¹others to do the same, shall be called least ^ain the kingdom of heaven; but whoever ²keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰“For I say to you that unless your ^arighteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Personal Relationships

²¹“^aYou have heard that ¹the ancients were told, ‘^bYou shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be ²liable to ^cthe court.’

²²“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be ¹guilty before ^athe court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘²You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before ^3bthe supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the ^4cfiery hell.

²³“Therefore if you are ^apresenting your ¹offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,

²⁴leave your ¹offering there before the altar and go; first be ^areconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

²⁵“^aMake friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

²⁶“Truly I say to you, ^ayou will not come out of there until you have paid up the last ¹cent.

²⁷“^aYou have heard that it was said, ‘^bYou shall not commit adultery’;

²⁸but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman ^awith lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

²⁹“^aIf your right eye makes you ¹stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you ²to lose one of the parts of your body, ³than for your whole body to be thrown into ^4bhell.

³⁰“^aIf your right hand makes you ¹stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you ²to lose one of the parts of your body, ³than for your whole body to go into ^4bhell.

³¹“It was said, ‘^aWhoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’;

^32abut I say to you that everyone who ¹divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a ²divorced woman commits adultery.

³³“Again, ^ayou have heard that ¹the ancients were told, ‘^2bYou shall not ³make false vows, but shall fulfill your ⁴vows to the Lord.’

³⁴“But I say to you, ^amake no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is ^bthe throne of God,

³⁵or by the earth, for it is the ^afootstool of His feet, or ¹by Jerusalem, for it is ^bthe city of the great King.

³⁶“Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

³⁷“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is ¹of ^aevil.

³⁸“^aYou have heard that it was said, ‘^bAn eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’

³⁹“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but ^awhoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

⁴⁰“If anyone wants to sue you and take your ¹shirt, let him have your ²coat also.

⁴¹“Whoever ¹forces you to go one mile, go with him two.

⁴²“^aGive to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³“^aYou have heard that it was said, ‘^bYou shall love your neighbor ^cand hate your enemy.’

⁴⁴“But I say to you, ^alove your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

⁴⁵so that you may ¹be ^asons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

⁴⁶“For ^aif you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

⁴⁷“If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

⁴⁸“Therefore ^1ayou are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Chapter 6

Giving to the Poor and Prayer

¹“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men ^ato be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

²“So when you ¹give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they ^amay be honored by men. ^bTruly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

³“But when you ¹give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

⁴so that your ¹giving will be in secret; and ^ayour Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁵“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to ^astand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners ^1bso that they may be seen by men. ^cTruly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

⁶“But you, when you pray, ^ago into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and ^byour Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their ^amany words.

⁸“So do not be like them; for ^ayour Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹“^aPray, then, in this…