Matthew 6-7

EasyEnglish Bible

Jesus teaches people how to help poor people

6 Jesus then said to them, ‘You should do good things to help people. But be careful! Do not do this so that other people see you. If you want other people to praise you, your Father in heaven will not praise you.

² When you give something to a poor person, do not tell anyone about it. The hypocrites do this in their meeting places. They also do it in the busy streets of the town. They do this so that other people will praise them. I tell you this. They have already received their gift. God will not give them anything more.^[a]

³ So when you give something to a poor person, keep it a secret from other people. Do not tell anyone. Your left hand will not even know what your right hand does! ⁴ Nobody else will know about the good thing that you have done. But God sees the things that you do secretly. In return, he will give you good things.’

Jesus teaches people how to pray

⁵ ‘Also, you must not pray in the way that the hypocrites pray. They like to stand and pray in their meeting places. They like to do it on the corners of the busy streets.^[b] Then many people will see them and they will praise them. I tell you this. They have already received their gift from people. God will not give them anything more.

⁶ But this is how you should pray. Go to a place in your house where you can be alone. You can shut the door and you can pray to God your Father. He is in that secret place. He sees what you do there. He will give you good things in return. ⁷ When you pray, do not say the same words many times. People who do not believe in God do that. They use many words that mean nothing. They think that when they pray like that, their gods will hear them. ⁸ Do not pray like they do. God your Father already knows what you need. He knows this even before you ask him.

⁹ So this is how you should pray:

¹⁴ Then Jesus said, ‘When other people do wrong things against you, you must forgive them. Then God, your Father in heaven, will also forgive you for the wrong things that you have done. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive you.’

Jesus teaches people about different things

¹⁶ Jesus then said, ‘You may decide to fast for some time.^[c] But do not look sad so that people know you are doing a special thing. Hypocrites want people to see how good they are. They make their faces dirty. Then other people can see that they are fasting. I tell you this: people have praised them and that is the only gift that they will get. ¹⁷ But when you fast for some time, you should wash your face. Make your hair look nice. ¹⁸ Then other people will not know that you are doing a special thing. But God, your Father, will know. You do not see him but he sees what you do secretly. He will give you good things in return.

¹⁹ Do not want to have many valuable things here in the world. Insects or water can destroy those kinds of things. Or people may come into your house and they can rob you of those things. ²⁰ Instead, you should want to have valuable things in heaven. Insects and water cannot destroy anything there. Men cannot rob you of your things there. ²¹ Then you will be thinking a lot about heaven, because that is where you keep your valuable things.^[d]

²² Your eyes are like lamps and your body is like a room. Make sure that your eyes are like a clean lamp, then your whole body will have light. ²³ If your eyes are not good, then your whole body will be in the dark. If the light in you has become dark, you will be living in a very dark place.’^[e]

²⁴ Jesus said, ‘Nobody can work as a slave for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other master. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.

²⁵ So I tell you this. You should not worry about how to stay alive. Do not worry about the food and drink that you need. Do not worry about the clothes that you need to wear. Your life is more important than the food that you eat. Your body is more important than your clothes. ²⁶ Think about the wild birds. They do not plant seeds in the ground. They do not cut down plants to eat. They have no buildings to store food. But God, your Father in heaven, gives them food to eat. You are much more valuable than the birds. ²⁷ Even if you always worry about your life, you cannot make it as much as one hour longer!

²⁸ You should not worry about your clothes. Think about how the wild flowers grow. They do not work or make clothes for themselves. ²⁹ But I tell you this. Even one wild flower is more beautiful than King Solomon was. And King Solomon wore the most beautiful clothes. ³⁰ It is God that gives beautiful clothes even to the grass. One day the grass is growing in the field, but the next day people will cut it and burn it.^[f] God will certainly take care of you, much more than he takes care of the grass. You should trust him more than you do!

³¹ So do not worry about these things. Do not always say, “What will we eat?”, or “What will we drink?”, or “What will we wear?” ³² People who do not know God are always trying to get these things. But as for you, your Father in heaven knows that you need them. ³³ Instead, always think about the things that are important in the kingdom of heaven. Always do what God shows you is right. Then he will also give you the things that you need each day. ³⁴ So do not have trouble in your mind about what might happen tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own problems. It is enough for you to be thinking each day about the problems of that day.’

We should not speak against other people

7 Jesus then said, ‘Do not say to anyone, “You are a bad person.” If you do that, God will say to you, “You are a bad person.” ² God will think about you in the same way that you think about other people. He will use the same rules for you as you use for other people.

³ Perhaps you want to tell your friend about his little mistake. If you want to do that, first remember your own bigger mistakes. ⁴ You are like a person who has a big piece of wood in his eye. But then he says to his friend, “Let me take that little piece of dirt out of your eye for you.” ⁵ Do not be like that person. You think that you are better than your friend. But you are not. First, you must take the big piece of wood out of your own eye. After that, your eyes will see clearly. Then you can take the small piece of dirt out of your friend's eye.^[g]

⁶ Do not give special things that are for God to dogs. The dogs will turn round and attack you. Do not throw valuable things to pigs. The pigs will only stand on them and bury them in the dirt.’^[h]

Jesus teaches his disciples more about God

⁷ Jesus said, ‘Go on asking God for what you need. Then God will give it to you. Go on looking for what you need. Then you will find it. Go on knocking at the door, and God will open it for you. ⁸ Everyone who asks for something will receive it. Everyone who looks for something will find it. God will open the door for everyone who knocks on it.

⁹ Some of you are fathers. If your son asks you for some bread, you would not give him a stone. ¹⁰ If he asks you for a fish, you would not give him a snake. ¹¹ You may be bad, but even you know how to give good things to your children. Your Father in heaven knows much better than you do how to give good things to his children. He will give good things to everyone who asks him.^{[i] 12} So do the good things for other people that you would want them to do for you. That is true in everything you do. That is what God's Law and the messages of God's prophets teach us.’

Jesus teaches people how to get true life

¹³ ‘Go in through the narrow gate to get true life with God. There is a wide gate that is easy to go through. The wide path is easy to travel on. Many people find that wide gate, but it is the way to hell. ¹⁴ It is difficult to go through the small gate. And it is difficult to walk on the narrow road. But when you do go that way, you will get true life. Not many people find that narrow gate.’^[j]

Jesus tells a story about a tree and its fruit

¹⁵ ‘Some people say that they are prophets from God. But their words are false. They seem to be like sheep that are not dangerous. But they are really like hungry wild dogs. What they teach will hurt you.

¹⁶ You will know these people by the way that they live. The things that they do are like their fruit. Grapes do not grow on thorn bushes. Figs do not grow on weeds.^{[k] 17} Good fruit grows on a tree that is good. Bad fruit grows on a tree that is not good. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot make bad fruit. A bad tree cannot make good fruit. ¹⁹ A farmer will cut down any tree that does not make good fruit. He will burn it on a fire. ²⁰ In the same way, look at the way people live. Then you will know what they are really like.

²¹ Some people say to me, “Master, Master!” But not all of them will come into the kingdom of heaven. Only the people who obey God, my Father in heaven, will come in. They do what he wants them to do. ²² On the day when God judges people, many of them will say, “Master, Master! We used your authority and we spoke a message from you. We used your authority and we sent bad spirits out of people. We used your authority to do many powerful things.” ²³ But I will say to these people, “I never knew you. You do not obey God. You are bad. So go away from me.” ’

Jesus tells a story about two men who each built a house

²⁴ Jesus then said, ‘Some people listen to my message and they obey it. Those people are like a wise man who built his house on rock. ²⁵ Then a storm came with a lot of rain and wind. The rivers rose up high. Strong winds blew hard against that house. But the house did not fall down because the man had built it on rock. ²⁶ Other people listen to my message but they do not obey it. Those people are like a fool who built his house on sand. ²⁷ Then a storm came with a lot of rain and wind. The rivers rose up high. Strong winds blew hard against the house. That house fell down. The storm destroyed it completely.’^[l]

²⁸ Jesus finished speaking. The crowds of people were very surprised at the things that he taught them. ²⁹ When Jesus taught them, he showed that he had authority. That was not like the way that the teachers of God's Law taught people.