^7 (A)Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and ^(B)a large multitude from Galilee followed, and also from Judea, ⁸ and from Jerusalem, and from ^(C)Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of ^(D)Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard about everything that He was doing and came to Him. ^9 (E)And He told His disciples to see that a boat would be ready for Him because of the ^[a]masses, so that they would not crowd Him; ¹⁰ for He had ^(F)healed many, with the result that all those who had ^(G)diseases pushed in around Him in order to ^(H)touch Him. ¹¹ And whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are ^(I)the Son of God!” ¹² And He ^(J)strongly warned them not to ^[b]reveal who He was.

The Twelve Are Chosen

¹³ And He *went up on ^(K)the mountain and *^(L)summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. ¹⁴ And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have authority to cast out the demons. ¹⁶ And He appointed the twelve: ^(M)Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), ^17 [c]James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of ^[d]James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); ¹⁸ and Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, ^[e]James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the ^[f]Zealot; ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Choosing the Twelve

¹² Now it was ^[a]at this time that He went off to ^(A)the mountain to ^(B)pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer with God. ¹³ And when day came, ^(C)He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as ^(D)apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom He also named Peter, and his brother Andrew; and ^[b]James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ and ^(E)Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes

5 ^(A)Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on ^(B)the ^[a]mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. ² And ^(C)He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

³ “^[b](D)Blessed are the poor in spirit, for ^(E)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are ^(F)those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are ^(G)the ^[c]gentle, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are ^(H)those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are ^(I)the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are ^(J)the pure in heart, for ^(K)they will see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for ^(L)they will be called sons of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who have been ^(M)persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for ^(N)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people ^(O)insult 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 ^(P)in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹⁷ And then Jesus ^(A)came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was ^(B)a large crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the coastal region of ^(C)Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled by unclean spirits were being cured. ¹⁹ And all the ^[a]people were trying to ^(D)touch Him, because ^(E)power was coming from Him and healing them all.

The Beatitudes

²⁰ And He raised His eyes toward His disciples and began saying, “^(F)Blessed are ^[b]you who are poor, for ^(G)yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are ^[c]you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are ^[d]you who weep now, for you will laugh. ^22 (H)Blessed are you when the people hate you, and when they ^[e](I)exclude you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice on that day and ^(J)jump for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For their fathers used to ^[f]treat the prophets ^(K)the same way. ²⁴ But woe to ^(L)you who are rich, for ^(M)you are receiving your comfort in full. ²⁵ Woe to you who ^[g]are well-fed now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when all the people speak well of you; for their fathers used to ^[h]treat the ^(N)false prophets the same way.

Disciples and the World

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but ^(A)if the salt has become tasteless, how ^[a]can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.

¹⁴ “You are ^(B)the light of the world. A city set on a ^[b]hill cannot be hidden; ^15 (C)nor do people light a lamp and put it under a ^[c]basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may ^(D)see your good works, and ^(E)glorify your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷ “Do not presume that I came to abolish the ^(F)Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, ^(G)until heaven and earth pass away, not ^[d]the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! ¹⁹ Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches ^[e]others to do the same, shall be called least ^(H)in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever ^[f]keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

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

Personal Relationships

²¹ “^(J)You have heard that ^[g]the ancients were told, ‘^(K)You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to ^(L)the court.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to ^(M)the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘^[h]You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to ^[i](N)the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the ^[j](O)fiery hell. ²³ Therefore, if you are ^(P)presenting your ^[k]offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your ^[l]offering there before the altar and go; first be ^(Q)reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your ^[m]offering. ^25 (R)[n]Come to good terms with your accuser quickly, while you are with him on the way to court, so that your accuser will not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will not be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I say to you, ^(S)you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last ^[o]quadrans.

²⁷ “^(T)You have heard that it was said, ‘^(U)You shall not commit adultery’; ²⁸ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman ^(V)with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ Now ^(W)if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, ^[p]than for your whole body to be thrown into ^[q](X)hell. ³⁰ And ^(Y)if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it is better for you ^[r]to lose one of the parts of your body, ^[s]than for your whole body to go into ^[t](Z)hell.

³¹ “Now it was said, ‘^(AA)Whoever sends his wife away is to give her a certificate of divorce’; ^32 (AB)but I say to you that everyone who ^[u]divorces his wife, except for the reason of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a ^[v]divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, ^(AC)you have heard that ^[w]the ancients were told, ‘^[x](AD)You shall not ^[y]make false vows, but shall fulfill your ^[z]vows to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, ^(AE)take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is ^(AF)the throne of God, ³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is the ^(AG)footstool of His feet, nor ^[aa]by Jerusalem, for it is ^(AH)the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. ³⁷ But make sure your statement is, ‘^[ab]Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is ^[ac]of ^(AI)evil origin.

³⁸ “^(AJ)You have heard that it was said, ‘^(AK)Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person; but ^(AL)whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your ^[ad]tunic, let him have your ^[ae]cloak also. ⁴¹ Whoever ^[af]forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ^42 (AM)Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³ “^(AN)You have heard that it was said, ‘^(AO)You shall love your neighbor ^(AP)and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, ^(AQ)love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may prove yourselves to be ^(AR)sons 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 ^(AS)if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? ⁴⁸ Therefore ^(AT)you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, ^(A)love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, ^(B)pray for those who are abusive to you. ^29 (C)Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your ^[a]cloak, do not withhold your ^[b]tunic from him either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. ^31 [c](D)Treat people the same way you want them to ^[d]treat you. ^32 (E)If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ^34 (F)And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. ³⁵ But ^(G)love your enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be ^(H)sons of ^(I)the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil people. ^36 [e]Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Charitable Giving to the Poor and Prayer

6 “Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, ^(A)to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

² “So when you ^[a]give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they ^(B)will be praised by people. ^(C)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³ But when you ^[b]give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your charitable giving will be in secret; and ^(D)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.