Matthew 6
Complete Jewish Bible
6 “Be careful not to parade your acts of tzedakah in front of people in order to be seen by them! If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So, when you do tzedakah, don’t announce it with trumpets to win people’s praise, like the hypocrites in the synagogues and on the streets. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 3 But you, when you do tzedakah, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Then your tzedakah will be in secret; and your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you.
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners, so that people can see them. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, don’t babble on and on like the pagans, who think God will hear them better if they talk a lot. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 You, therefore, pray like this:
‘Our Father in heaven!
May your Name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
11 Give us the food we need today.
12 Forgive us what we have done wrong,
as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us.
13 And do not lead us into hard testing,
but keep us safe from the Evil One.
[a]For kingship, power and glory are yours forever.
Amen.’
14 For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.
16 “Now when you fast, don’t go around looking miserable, like the hypocrites. They make sour faces so that people will know they are fasting. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 17 But you, when you fast, wash your face and groom yourself, 18 so that no one will know you are fasting — except your Father, who is with you in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. 21 For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also. 22 ‘The eye is the lamp of the body.’ So if you have a ‘good eye’ [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if you have an ‘evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both God and money.
25 “Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are? 27 Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?
28 “And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread, 29 yet I tell you that not even Shlomo in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. 30 If this is how God clothes grass in the field — which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in an oven — won’t he much more clothe you? What little trust you have!
31 “So don’t be anxious, asking, ‘What will we eat?,’ ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘How will we be clothed?’ 32 For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. 33 But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Don’t worry about tomorrow — tomorrow will worry about itself! Today has enough tsuris already!
Footnotes
- Matthew 6:13 The latter half of verse 13 is not found in the oldest manuscripts.
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.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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