Matthew 6
Contemporary English Version
Giving
6 (A) When you do good deeds, don't try to show off. If you do, you won't get a reward from your Father in heaven.
2 When you give to the poor, don't blow a loud horn. That's what show-offs do in the synagogues and on the street corners, because they are always looking for praise. I can assure you that they already have their reward.
3 When you give to the poor, don't let anyone know about it.[a] 4 Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret and will reward you.
Prayer
(Luke 11.2-4)
5 (B) When you pray, don't be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward.
6 When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private and will reward you.
7 (C) When you pray, don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. 8 Don't be like them. Your Father knows what you need even before you ask.
9 You should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
help us to honor
your name.
10 Come and set up
your kingdom,
so that everyone on earth
will obey you,
as you are obeyed
in heaven.
11 Give us our food for today.[b]
12 Forgive us for doing wrong,
as we forgive others.
13 Keep us from being tempted[c]
and protect us from evil.[d]
14 (D)(E) If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you. 15 But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Worshiping God by Going without Eating
16 When you go without eating,[e] don't try to look gloomy as those show-offs do when they go without eating. I can assure you that they already have their reward. 17 (F) Instead, comb your hair and wash your face. 18 Then others won't know you are going without eating. But your Father sees what is done in private, and he will reward you.
Treasures in Heaven
(Luke 12.33,34)
19 (G) Don't store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. 20 (H) Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. 21 Your heart will always be where your treasure is.
Light
(Luke 11.34-36)
22 Your eyes are a window for your body. When they are good, you have all the light you need. 23 But when your eyes are bad, everything is dark. If the light inside you is dark, you surely are in the dark.
Money
(Luke 16.13)
24 You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Worry
(Luke 12.22-31)
25 I tell you not to worry about your life. Don't worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food or clothing? 26 Look at the birds in the sky! They don't plant or harvest. They don't even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren't you worth much more than birds?
27 Can worry make you live longer?[f] 28 Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don't work hard to make their clothes. 29 (I) But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth[g] wasn't as well clothed as one of them. 30 God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. God will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith?
31 Don't worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” 32 Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows you need all of these. 33 But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.
34 Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.
Footnotes
- 6.3 don't let anyone know about it: The Greek text has, “Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”
- 6.11 our food for today: Or “the food that we need” or “our food for the coming day.”
- 6.13 tempted: Or “tested.”
- 6.13 evil: Or “the evil one,” that is, the devil. Some manuscripts add, “The kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours forever. Amen.”
- 6.16 without eating: See the note at 4.2.
- 6.27 live longer: Or “grow taller.”
- 6.29 Solomon with all his wealth: The Jewish people thought that Solomon was the richest person who had ever lived.
Matthew 6
King James Version
6 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Matthaeus 6
Biblia Sacra Vulgata
6 Attendite ne justitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus, ut videamini ab eis: alioquin mercedem non habebitis apud Patrem vestrum qui in caelis est.
2 Cum ergo facis eleemosynam, noli tuba canere ante te, sicut hypocritae faciunt in synagogis, et in vicis, ut honorificentur ab hominibus. Amen dico vobis, receperunt mercedem suam.
3 Te autem faciente eleemosynam, nesciat sinistra tua quid faciat dextera tua:
4 ut sit eleemosyna tua in abscondito, et Pater tuus, qui videt in abscondito, reddet tibi.
5 Et cum oratis, non eritis sicut hypocritae qui amant in synagogis et in angulis platearum stantes orare, ut videantur ab hominibus: amen dico vobis, receperunt mercedem suam.
6 Tu autem cum oraveris, intra in cubiculum tuum, et clauso ostio, ora Patrem tuum in abscondito: et Pater tuus, qui videt in abscondito, reddet tibi.
7 Orantes autem, nolite multum loqui, sicut ethnici, putant enim quod in multiloquio suo exaudiantur.
8 Nolite ergo assimilari eis: scit enim Pater vester, quid opus sit vobis, antequam petatis eum.
9 Sic ergo vos orabitis: Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum.
10 Adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra.
11 Panem nostrum supersubstantialem da nobis hodie,
12 et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
13 Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
14 Si enim dimiseritis hominibus peccata eorum: dimittet et vobis Pater vester caelestis delicta vestra.
15 Si autem non dimiseritis hominibus: nec Pater vester dimittet vobis peccata vestra.
16 Cum autem jejunatis, nolite fieri sicut hypocritae, tristes. Exterminant enim facies suas, ut appareant hominibus jejunantes. Amen dico vobis, quia receperunt mercedem suam.
17 Tu autem, cum jejunas, unge caput tuum, et faciem tuam lava,
18 ne videaris hominibus jejunans, sed Patri tuo, qui est in abscondito: et Pater tuus, qui videt in abscondito, reddet tibi.
19 Nolite thesaurizare vobis thesauros in terra: ubi aerugo, et tinea demolitur: et ubi fures effodiunt, et furantur.
20 Thesaurizate autem vobis thesauros in caelo, ubi neque aerugo, neque tinea demolitur, et ubi fures non effodiunt, nec furantur.
21 Ubi enim est thesaurus tuus, ibi est et cor tuum.
22 Lucerna corporis tui est oculus tuus. Si oculus tuus fuerit simplex, totum corpus tuum lucidum erit.
23 Si autem oculus tuus fuerit nequam, totum corpus tuum tenebrosum erit. Si ergo lumen, quod in te est, tenebrae sunt: ipsae tenebrae quantae erunt?
24 Nemo potest duobus dominis servire: aut enim unum odio habebit, et alterum diliget: aut unum sustinebit, et alterum contemnet. Non potestis Deo servire et mammonae.
25 Ideo dico vobis, ne solliciti sitis animae vestrae quid manducetis, neque corpori vestro quid induamini. Nonne anima plus est quam esca, et corpus plus quam vestimentum?
26 Respicite volatilia caeli, quoniam non serunt, neque metunt, neque congregant in horrea: et Pater vester caelestis pascit illa. Nonne vos magis pluris estis illis?
27 Quis autem vestrum cogitans potest adjicere ad staturam suam cubitum unum?
28 Et de vestimento quid solliciti estis? Considerate lilia agri quomodo crescunt: non laborant, neque nent.
29 Dico autem vobis, quoniam nec Salomon in omni gloria sua coopertus est sicut unum ex istis.
30 Si autem foenum agri, quod hodie est, et cras in clibanum mittitur, Deus sic vestit, quanto magis vos modicae fidei?
31 Nolite ergo solliciti esse, dicentes: Quid manducabimus, aut quid bibemus, aut quo operiemur?
32 haec enim omnia gentes inquirunt. Scit enim Pater vester, quia his omnibus indigetis.
33 Quaerite ergo primum regnum Dei, et justitiam ejus: et haec omnia adjicientur vobis.
34 Nolite ergo solliciti esse in crastinum. Crastinus enim dies sollicitus erit sibi ipsi: sufficit diei malitia sua.
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