Matthew 5:17-32

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. ¹⁸For 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! ¹⁹Therefore, 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.’ ²²But 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. ²³Therefore, if you are ^(K)presenting your ^[h]offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave 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. ²⁶Truly 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’; ²⁸but 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. ²⁹Now ^(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. ³⁰And ^(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.

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Footnotes

Matthew 5:18 Lit one iota (Heb yodh) or one projection (serif)
Matthew 5:19 Lit people
Matthew 5:19 Lit does
Matthew 5:21 Lit it was said to the ancients
Matthew 5:22 Or You empty-head; Gr Raka (Raca) from Aramaic reqa
Matthew 5:22 Lit the Sanhedrin; i.e., Jewish High Court
Matthew 5:22 Lit Gehenna of fire
Matthew 5:23 Or gift
Matthew 5:24 Or gift
Matthew 5:24 Or gift
Matthew 5:25 I.e., settle the case
Matthew 5:26 A small Roman copper coin, worth about 1/64 of a laborer’s daily wage
Matthew 5:29 Lit and that your whole body not be
Matthew 5:29 Gr Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 Lit that one...be lost
Matthew 5:30 Lit and not your whole body
Matthew 5:30 Gr Gehenna
Matthew 5:32 Lit sends away, the Heb term for divorce
Matthew 5:32 Lit woman sent away