Matthew 6-7

Tree of Life Version

Righteous Living

6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² So whenever you do tzedakah, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! ³ But when you do tzedakah, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your tzedakah may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you.

⁵ “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! ⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your inner room; and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you. ⁷ And when you are praying, do not babble on and on like the pagans; for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹ “Therefore, pray in this way:

¹⁴ “For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

¹⁶ “And whenever you fast, do not become sad-faced like the hypocrites, for they neglect their faces to make their fasting evident to men. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! ¹⁷ But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting won’t be evident to men, but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.^[b]

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust^[c] destroy and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eye is bad, your body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick by one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and money.”^[d]

Overcoming Worry with Trust

²⁵ “So I say to you, do not worry about your life—what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?

²⁶ “Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your Father in heaven feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ^{[e] 28} And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ^{[f] 30} Now if in this way God clothes the grass—which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow—will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³² For the pagans eagerly pursue all these things; yet your Father in heaven knows that you need all these. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Measuring Your Measure

7 “Stop judging, so that you may not be judged. ² For with the judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

³ “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴ Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the beam is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

⁶ “Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet, then turn and rip you to shreds.

⁷ “Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it shall be opened.

⁹ “For what man among you, when his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or when he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! ¹² So in all things, do to others what you would want them to do to you—for this is the Torah and the Prophets.

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. ¹⁴ How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Judging the Fruit

¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets,^[g] who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes aren’t gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree produces good fruit, but the rotten tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ So then, you will recognize them by their fruit.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”^[h]

Building on a Firm Foundation

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house; and yet it did not fall, for its foundation had been built on the rock. ²⁶ Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

²⁸ Now when Yeshua had finished these words, the crowds were astounded at His teaching, ²⁹ for He was teaching them as one having authority and not as their Torah scholars.