Matthew 5:1-20

Contemporary English Version

The Sermon on the Mount

5 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the side of a mountain and sat down.^[a]

Blessings

(Luke 6.20-23)

Jesus' disciples gathered around him, ² and he taught them:

^11 (F) God will bless you when people insult you, mistreat you, and tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. ^12 (G) Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven. People did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago.

Salt and Light

(Mark 9.50; Luke 14.34,35)

^13 (H) You are the salt for everyone on earth. But if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty? All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on.

^14 (I) You are the light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, ^15 (J) and no one lights a lamp and puts it under a clay pot. Instead, it is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. ^16 (K) Make your light shine, so others will see the good you do and will praise your Father in heaven.

The Law of Moses

¹⁷ Don't suppose I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets.^[e] I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning. ^18 (L) Heaven and earth may disappear. But I promise you not even a period or comma will ever disappear from the Law. Everything written in it must happen.

¹⁹ If you reject even the least important command in the Law and teach others to do the same, you will be the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But if you obey and teach others its commands, you will have an important place in the kingdom. ²⁰ You must obey God's commands better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law obey them. If you don't, I promise you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.