Matthew 4–12

¹Then Jesus was led up to the wilderness by the Spirit, to be tempted by the Devil, ²and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he did hunger. ³And the Tempter having come to him said, ‘If Son thou art of God—speak that these stones may become loaves.’ ⁴But he answering said, ‘It hath been written, Not upon bread alone doth man live, but upon every word coming forth from the mouth of God.’ ⁵Then doth the Devil take him to the holy city, and doth set him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶and saith to him, ‘If Son thou art of God—cast thyself down, for it hath been written, that, His messengers He shall charge concerning thee, and on hands they shall bear thee up, that thou mayest not dash on a stone thy foot.’ ⁷Jesus said to him again, ‘It hath been written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’ ⁸Again doth the Devil take him to a very high mount, and doth shew to him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, ⁹and saith to him, ‘All these to thee I will give, if falling down thou mayest bow to me.’ ¹⁰Then saith Jesus to him, ‘Go—Adversary, for it hath been written, The Lord thy God thou shalt bow to, and Him only thou shalt serve.’ ¹¹Then doth the Devil leave him, and lo, messengers came and were ministering to him.

¹²And Jesus having heard that John was delivered up, did withdraw to Galilee, ¹³and having left Nazareth, having come, he dwelt at Capernaum that is by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtalim, ¹⁴that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, ¹⁵‘Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations!— ¹⁶the people that is sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those sitting in a region and shadow of death—light arose to them.’ ¹⁷From that time began Jesus to proclaim and to say, ‘Reform ye, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens.’

¹⁸And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon named Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a drag into the sea—for they were fishers— ¹⁹and he saith to them, ‘Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men,’ ²⁰and they, immediately, having left the nets, did follow him. ²¹And having advanced thence, he saw other two brothers, James of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, refitting their nets, and he called them, ²²and they, immediately, having left the boat and their father, did follow him.

²³And Jesus was going about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the reign, and healing every disease, and every malady among the people, ²⁴and his fame went forth to all Syria, and they brought to him all having ailments, pressed with manifold sicknesses and pains, and demoniacs, and lunatics, and paralytics, and he healed them. ²⁵And there followed him many multitudes from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

Chapter 5

¹And having seen the multitudes, he went up to the mount, and he having sat down, his disciples came to him, ²and having opened his mouth, he was teaching them, saying:

³‘Happy the poor in spirit—because theirs is the reign of the heavens.

⁴‘Happy the mourning—because they shall be comforted.

⁵‘Happy the meek—because they shall inherit the land.

⁶‘Happy those hungering and thirsting for righteousness—because they shall be filled.

⁷‘Happy the kind—because they shall find kindness.

⁸‘Happy the clean in heart—because they shall see God.

⁹‘Happy the peacemakers—because they shall be called Sons of God.

¹⁰‘Happy those persecuted for righteousness’ sake—because theirs is the reign of the heavens.

¹¹‘Happy are ye whenever they may reproach you, and may persecute, and may say any evil thing against you falsely for my sake— ¹²rejoice ye and be glad, because your reward is great in the heavens, for thus did they persecute the prophets who were before you.

¹³‘Ye are the salt of the land, but if the salt may lose savour, in what shall it be salted? for nothing is it good henceforth, except to be cast without, and to be trodden down by men.

¹⁴‘Ye are the light of the world, a city set upon a mount is not able to be hid; ¹⁵nor do they light a lamp, and put it under the measure, but on the lamp-stand, and it shineth to all those in the house; ¹⁶so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father who is in the heavens.

¹⁷‘Do not suppose that I came to throw down the law or the prophets—I did not come to throw down, but to fulfil; ¹⁸for, verily I say to you, till that the heaven and the earth may pass away, one iota or one tittle may not pass away from the law, till that all may come to pass.

¹⁹‘Whoever therefore may loose one of these commands—the least—and may teach men so, least he shall be called in the reign of the heavens, but whoever may do and may teach them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.

²⁰‘For I say to you, that if your righteousness may not abound above that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye may not enter to the reign of the heavens.

²¹‘Ye heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not kill, and whoever may kill shall be in danger of the judgment; ²²but I—I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.

²³‘If, therefore, thou mayest bring thy gift to the altar, and there mayest remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, ²⁴leave there thy gift before the altar, and go—first be reconciled to thy brother, and then having come bring thy gift.

²⁵‘Be agreeing with thy opponent quickly, while thou art in the way with him, that the opponent may not deliver thee to the judge, and the judge may deliver thee to the officer, and to prison thou mayest be cast, ²⁶verily I say to thee, thou mayest not come forth thence till that thou mayest pay the last farthing.

²⁷‘Ye heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not commit adultery; ²⁸but I—I say to you, that every one who is looking on a woman to desire her, did already commit adultery with her in his heart.

²⁹‘But, if thy right eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.

³⁰‘And, if thy right hand doth cause thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.

³¹‘And it was said, That whoever may put away his wife, let him give to her a writing of divorce; ³²but I—I say to you, that whoever may put away his wife, save for the matter of whoredom, doth make her to commit adultery; and whoever may marry her who hath been put away doth commit adultery.

³³‘Again, ye heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not swear falsely, but thou shalt pay to the Lord thine oaths; ³⁴but I—I say to you, not to swear at all; neither by the heaven, because it is the throne of God, ³⁵nor by the earth, because it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, because it is a city of a great king, ³⁶nor by thy head mayest thou swear, because thou art not able one hair to make white or black; ³⁷but let your word be, Yes, Yes, No, No, and that which is more than these is of the evil.

³⁸‘Ye heard that it was said: Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth; ³⁹but I—I say to you, not to resist the evil, but whoever shall slap thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other; ⁴⁰and whoever is willing to take thee to law, and thy coat to take—suffer to him also the cloak.

⁴¹‘And whoever shall impress thee one mile, go with him two, ⁴²to him who is asking of thee be giving, and him who is willing to borrow from thee thou mayest not turn away.

⁴³‘Ye heard that it was said: Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and shalt hate thine enemy; ⁴⁴but I—I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those cursing you, do good to those hating you, and pray for those accusing you falsely, and persecuting you, ⁴⁵that ye may be sons of your Father in the heavens, because His sun He doth cause to rise on evil and good, and He doth send rain on righteous and unrighteous.

⁴⁶‘For, if ye may love those loving you, what reward have ye? do not also the tax-gatherers the same? ⁴⁷and if ye may salute your brethren only, what do ye abundant? do not also the tax-gatherers so? ⁴⁸ye shall therefore be perfect, as your Father who is in the heavens is perfect.

Chapter 6

¹ ‘Take heed your kindness not to do before men, to be seen by them, and if not—reward ye have not from your Father who is in the heavens; ²whenever, therefore, thou mayest do kindness, thou mayest not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory from men; verily I say to you—they have their reward!

³‘But thou, doing kindness, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth, ⁴that thy kindness may be in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret Himself shall reward thee manifestly.

⁵‘And when thou mayest pray, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites, because they love in the synagogues, and in the corners of the broad places—standing—to pray, that they may be seen of men; verily I say to you, that they have their reward.

⁶‘But thou, when thou mayest pray, go into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly.

⁷‘And—praying—ye may not use vain repetitions like the nations, for they think that in their much speaking they shall be heard, ⁸be ye not therefore like to them, for your Father doth know those things that ye have need of before your asking him.

⁹Thus therefore pray ye: ‘Our Father who art in the heavens! hallowed be Thy name.

¹⁰‘Thy reign come: Thy will come to pass, as in heaven also on the earth.

¹¹‘Our appointed bread give us to-day.

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