New Testament in a Year

6 “Take care! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, for then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give a gift to a beggar, don’t shout about it as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you in all earnestness, they have received all the reward they will ever get. ³ But when you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly—don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. ⁴ And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.

⁵ “And now about prayer. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who pretend piety by praying publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. Truly, that is all the reward they will ever get. ⁶ But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you.

^7-8 “Don’t recite the same prayer over and over as the heathen do, who think prayers are answered only by repeating them again and again. Remember, your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

⁹ “Pray along these lines: ‘Our Father in heaven, we honor your holy name. ¹⁰ We ask that your kingdom will come now. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us our food again today, as usual, ¹² and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. ¹³ Don’t bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.^[a] Amen.’ ^14-15 Your heavenly Father will forgive you if you forgive those who sin against you; but if you refuse to forgive them, he will not forgive you.

¹⁶ “And now about fasting. When you fast, declining your food for a spiritual purpose, don’t do it publicly, as the hypocrites do, who try to look wan and disheveled so people will feel sorry for them. Truly, that is the only reward they will ever get. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put on festive clothing, ¹⁸ so that no one will suspect you are hungry, except your Father who knows every secret. And he will reward you.