14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.(A) 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.(B)

Fasting

16 “When you fast,(C) do not look somber(D) as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.(E)

Treasures in Heaven(F)

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,(G) where moths and vermin destroy,(H) and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,(I) where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.(J) 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.(K)

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.(L)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 6:22 The Greek for healthy here implies generous.
  2. Matthew 6:23 The Greek for unhealthy here implies stingy.

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram(A) in a vision:(B)

“Do not be afraid,(C) Abram.
    I am your shield,[a](D)
    your very great reward.[b](E)

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,(F) what can you give me since I remain childless(G) and the one who will inherit[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?(H) And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant(I) in my household(J) will be my heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.(K) He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars(L)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”(M)

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.(N)

He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out(O) of Ur of the Chaldeans(P) to give you this land to take possession of it.”(Q)

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,(R) how can I know(S) that I will gain possession of it?”(T)

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,(U) a goat and a ram, each three years old,(V) along with a dove and a young pigeon.(W)

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;(X) the birds, however, he did not cut in half.(Y) 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,(Z) but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,(AA) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years(AB) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved(AC) and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out(AD) with great possessions.(AE) 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors(AF) in peace and be buried at a good old age.(AG) 16 In the fourth generation(AH) your descendants will come back here,(AI) for the sin of the Amorites(AJ) has not yet reached its full measure.”

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch(AK) appeared and passed between the pieces.(AL) 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram(AM) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,(AN) from the Wadi[e] of Egypt(AO) to the great river, the Euphrates(AP) 19 the land of the Kenites,(AQ) Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites,(AR) Perizzites,(AS) Rephaites,(AT) 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”(AU)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 15:1 Or sovereign
  2. Genesis 15:1 Or shield; / your reward will be very great
  3. Genesis 15:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  4. Genesis 15:5 Or seed
  5. Genesis 15:18 Or river

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