The Sermon on the Mount

5 When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain,^(A) and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ² Then^[a] he began to teach them, saying:^(B)

The Beatitudes

¹¹ “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. ¹² Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted^(L) the prophets who were before you.^(M)

Believers Are Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty?^[b] It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.^(N)

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.^{(O) 15} No one lights a lamp^(P) and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.^{(Q) 16} In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.^(R)

Living the New Life

¹⁷ Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thoughts. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because^[a] of the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹ They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity^(A) with a desire for more and more.^[b]

²⁰ But that is not how you came to know Christ, ²¹ assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth^(B) is in Jesus, ²² to take off^[c](C) your former way of life,^(D) the old self^(E) that is corrupted by deceitful desires, ²³ to be renewed^[d] in the spirit^(F) of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on^[e](G) the new self, the one created^(H) according to God’s likeness^(I) in righteousness and purity of the truth.

Lights in the World

¹² Therefore, my dear friends,^(A) just as you have always obeyed,^(B) so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ¹³ For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. ¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling^(C) and arguing,^{(D) 15} so that you may be blameless^(E) and pure,^(F) children of God who are faultless^(G) in a crooked^(H) and perverted^(I) generation,^(J) among whom you shine like stars in the world, ¹⁶ by holding firm to the word^(K) of life. Then I can boast^(L) in the day of Christ^(M) that I didn’t run or labor for nothing. ¹⁷ But even if I am poured out^(N) as a drink offering^(O) on the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸ In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.