The Temple Tax

^24 (A)When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of ^(B)the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” ²⁵ He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, ^(C)“What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or ^(D)tax? From their sons or from others?” ²⁶ And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.

¹⁷ Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay ^(A)taxes to ^(B)Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why ^(C)put me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.^{[a] 20} And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, ^(D)“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” ²² When they heard it, they marveled. And they ^(E)left him and went away.

Giving to the Needy

6 “Beware of ^(A)practicing your righteousness before other people in order ^(B)to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

^2 (C)“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may ^(D)be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have ^(E)received their reward. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. ^(F)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

^19 (A)“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where ^(B)moth and rust^[a] destroy and where thieves ^(C)break in and steal, ^20 (D)but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

^22 (E)“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, ^23 (F)but if ^(G)your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

^24 (H)“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^(I)money.^[b]

Do Not Be Anxious

^25 (J)“Therefore I tell you, ^(K)do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ^26 (L)Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. ^(M)Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ^(N)span of life?^{[c] 28} And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, ^(O)even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, ^(P)O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you would be ^(A)perfect, go, ^(B)sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^(C)treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”