Matthew 6
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Sermon on a Mountain Continues: Don’t Do Good Works to Be Praised by People
6 “Be careful not to do your good works in public in order to attract attention. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you. 2 So when you give to the poor, don’t announce it with trumpet fanfare. This is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets in order to be praised by people. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward. 3 When you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your contributions privately. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.
The Lord’s Prayer(A)
5 “When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They like to stand in synagogues and on street corners to pray so that everyone can see them. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward. 6 When you pray, go to your room and close the door. Pray privately to your Father who is with you. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.
7 “When you pray, don’t ramble like heathens who think they’ll be heard if they talk a lot. 8 Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
let your name be kept holy.
10 Let your kingdom come.
Let your will be done on earth
as it is done in heaven.
11 Give us our daily bread today.
12 Forgive us as we forgive others.
13 Don’t allow us to be tempted.
Instead, rescue us from the evil one.[a]
14 “If you forgive the failures of others, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failures.
Fasting
16 “When you fast, stop looking sad like hypocrites. They put on sad faces to make it obvious that they’re fasting. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward. 17 When you fast, wash your face and comb your hair. 18 Then your fasting won’t be obvious. Instead, it will be obvious to your Father who is with you in private. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.
True Riches
19 “Stop storing up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust don’t destroy and thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 Your heart will be where your treasure is.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is unclouded, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light in you is darkness, how dark it will be!
24 “No one can serve two masters. He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Stop Worrying(B)
25 “So I tell you to stop worrying about what you will eat, drink, or wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes?
26 “Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or gather the harvest into barns. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?
27 “Can any of you add a single hour to your life by worrying?
28 “And why worry about clothes? Notice how the flowers grow in the field. They never work or spin yarn for clothes. 29 But I say that not even Solomon in all his majesty was dressed like one of these flowers. 30 That’s the way God clothes the grass in the field. Today it’s alive, and tomorrow it’s thrown into an incinerator. So how much more will he clothe you people who have so little faith?
31 “Don’t ever worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32 Everyone is concerned about these things, and your heavenly Father certainly knows you need all of them. 33 But first, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you.
34 “So don’t ever worry about tomorrow. After all, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Footnotes
- 6:13 Or “rescue us from evil.”
Mattityahu 6
Orthodox Jewish Bible
6 Be careful that you don’t practice your tzedakah (charity giving) before Bnei Adam in order to varf (show off, flaunt) to be seen by Bnei Adam; for then you have no sachar (reward) with your Av shbaShomayim.
2 Therefore, whenever you contribute tzedakah, don’t blow the shofar before you, as the tzevuim (hypocrites) do in the shuls and in the streets, in order that they may receive kavod (glory) from Bnei Adam. Omein, truly I say to you, they have their sachar (reward).
3 But when you contribute tzedakah, do not let your left hand have da’as (knowledge) of what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your tzedakah may be nistar (hidden, in secret), and your Av HaRoeh b’seter (Father, the One seeing in secret) [His] sachar (reward) will give you.
5 And whenever you daven (pray), do not be as the tzevuim (hypocrites); for they love to stand and daven in the shuls and on the street corners so that they may be seen by an audience. Omein, truly I say to you, they have their sachar.
6 But you, whenever you daven, enter into the secret place, your secret cheder, and, having shut your door, offer tefillos to your Av Asher bSeter (Father Who is in Secret), and your Av haRoeh b’seter (Father the One seeing in secret) [His] sachar will give you.
7 But when you daven, do not babble on and on maarich (extended, long winded) and vacuously and without kavvanah (heartfelt direction, intention) like the Goyim. For the Goyim think that in their verbosity their techinnah will be heard.
8 Therefore, nisht azoi (not so)! Be different, for your Av has daas (knowledge) of what things you have need before you ask Him.
9 Therefore, when you offer tefillos, daven like this, in this manner: Avinu shbaShomayim (Our Father in heaven), yitkadash shmecha (hallowed be your Name).
10 Tavo malchutechah (Thy Kingdom come) Ye’aseh rtzonechah (Thy will be done) kmoh vaShomayim ken baaretz (on earth as it is in heaven).
11 Es lechem chukeinu ten lanu hayom (Give us today our daily bread),
12 u-slach lanu es chovoteinu kaasher salachnu (and forgive us our debts as we forgive) gam anachnu lachayaveinu (also our debtors).
13 V’al tvi’einu lidey nisayon (And lead us not into temptation [Mt 26:41]) ki im chaltzeinu min harah (but deliver us from evil). [Ki l’chah hamamlachah (for thine is the Kingdom) vhagvurah (and the power) vhatiferet (and the glory) l’olmei olamim (forever). Omein].
14 For if you give men mechila (pardon, forgiveness) for their chattaim (sins), so also your Av shbaShomayim will give selicha (forgiveness) to you.
15 But if you do not give men mechila (forgiveness), neither will your chattaim receive selicha from your Av.
16 And whenever you undergo a tzom (fast), don’t be like the sullen tzevuim (hypocrites), for they disfigure their faces to parade their tzom (fast). Omein, truly I say to you, they have received their sachar (reward).
17 But when you undergo a tzom, anoint your rosh with shemen (oil) and wash your face
18 so that your tzom is concealed from Bnei Adam but not from your Av Asher b’Seter (Father Who is in Secret). And your Av HaRoeh b’seter (Father the One seeing in secret) will give you sachar.
19 Do not store up for yourselves otzarot (treasures) on haaretz, where moth and rust destroy and where ganavim (thieves) break in and steal.
20 But zamlet (collect) for yourselves otzarot (treasures) in Shomayim, where neither moth nor rust destroys, neither do ganavim break in and steal.
21 For where your otzar (treasure) is, there also will be your lev (heart).
22 The eye is the menorah of the basar. Therefore, if your eye is unblurred, then your whole basar will be lighted.
23 But if yours is the ayin horo (evil eye), your whole basar will be in choshech (darkness).
24 No one is able to serve two adonim (masters). For either he will have sinah (hatred) for the one and ahavah (love) for the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve Hashem and Mammon (Money).
25 Therefore, I say to you, Do not have a LEV ROGEZ (anxious heart, [DEVARIM 28:65]) about your life, what you might wear or what you might drink, nor for your basar, what you might put on. Is not life more than okhel (food) and basar more than malbush (clothing)?
26 Look to the OPH HASHOMAYIM (birds of heaven, IYOV 35:11), for they do not sow nor reap nor gather into storehouses, and your Av shbaShomayim feeds them. Are you yourselves not worth more than they?
27 And who among you by a LEV ROGEZ (DEVARIM 28:65) is able to add to his life span one cubit?
28 And why have a LEV ROGEZ (anxious heart) about malbush (clothing)? Observe the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not labor nor spin.
29 But I say to you that not even Shlomo HaMelech in all his kavod (glory) was clothed as one of these.
30 And if Hashem thus clothes the grass of the field that exists today and tomorrow is thrown into a furnace, how much more will he clothe you, you ones of little emunah?
31 Therefore, do not have a LEV ROGEZ (DEVARIM 28:65), saying, What might we eat? or What might we drink? or With what might we clothe ourselves?
32 For all these things the Goyim strive. For your Av shbaShomayim bavorn (anticipates) that you need all these things.
33 But seek first the Malchut Hashem and the Tzidkat Hashem, and all these things will be added to you.
34 Therefore, do not have a LEV ROGEZ (DEVARIM 28:65) for tomorrow, for makhar (tomorrow) will care for itself. Each day has enough tzoros of its own.
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