Matthew 5:17-6:34

New American Standard Bible

¹⁷ “Do not presume that I came to abolish the ^(A)Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, ^(B)until heaven and earth pass away, not ^[a]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 ^[b]others to do the same, shall be called least ^(C)in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever ^[c]keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

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

Personal Relationships

²¹ “^(E)You have heard that ^[d]the ancients were told, ‘^(F)You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to ^(G)the court.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to ^(H)the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘^[e]You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to ^[f](I)the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the ^[g](J)fiery hell. ²³ Therefore, if you are ^(K)presenting your ^[h]offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your ^[i]offering there before the altar and go; first be ^(L)reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your ^[j]offering. ^25 (M)[k]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, ^(N)you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last ^[l]quadrans.

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

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

³³ “Again, ^(X)you have heard that ^[t]the ancients were told, ‘^[u](Y)You shall not ^[v]make false vows, but shall fulfill your ^[w]vows to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, ^(Z)take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is ^(AA)the throne of God, ³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is the ^(AB)footstool of His feet, nor ^[x]by Jerusalem, for it is ^(AC)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, ‘^[y]Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is ^[z]of ^(AD)evil origin.

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

⁴³ “^(AI)You have heard that it was said, ‘^(AJ)You shall love your neighbor ^(AK)and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, ^(AL)love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may prove yourselves to be ^(AM)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 ^(AN)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 ^(AO)you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Charitable Giving to the Poor and Prayer

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

² “So when you ^[ad]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 ^(AQ)will be praised by people. ^(AR)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³ But when you ^[ae]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 ^(AS)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁵ “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to ^(AT)stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners ^(AU)so that they ^[af]will be seen by people. ^(AV)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ⁶ But as for you, when you pray, ^(AW)go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and ^(AX)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷ “And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their ^(AY)many words. ⁸ So do not be like them; for ^(AZ)your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

The Lord’s Prayer

⁹ “^(BA)Pray, then, in this way:

^14 (BH)For if you forgive other people for their ^[am]offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But ^(BI)if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your ^[an]offenses.

Fasting; The True Treasure; Wealth

¹⁶ “Now ^(BJ)whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they ^[ao]distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. ^(BK)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ¹⁷ But as for you, when you fast, ^[ap](BL)anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your ^(BM)Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

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

²² “^(BQ)The eye is the lamp of the body; so then, if your eye is ^[aq]clear, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if ^(BR)your eye is ^[ar]bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

²⁴ “^(BS)No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^[as](BT)wealth.

The Cure for Anxiety

²⁵ “^(BU)For this reason I say to you, ^[at]do not be ^(BV)worried about your ^[au]life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? ^26 (BW)Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? ²⁷ And which of you by ^(BX)worrying can ^(BY)add a single ^[av]day to his ^[aw]life’s span? ²⁸ And why are you ^(BZ)worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, ²⁹ yet I say to you that not even ^(CA)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the ^(CB)grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? ^(CC)You of little faith! ³¹ Do not ^(CD)worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ ³² For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for ^(CE)your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But ^[ax]seek first ^[ay]His kingdom and His righteousness, and ^(CF)all these things will be ^[az]provided to you.

³⁴ “So do not ^(CG)worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will ^[ba]worry about itself. ^[bb]Each day has enough trouble of its own.