< Matthew 6 >
1 Beware of doing your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
2 When, therefore, you do a charitable deed, do not cause a trumpet to be sounded before you, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be glorified by men. Verily, I say to you, They have their reward.
3 But when you do a charitable deed, let not your left hand know what your right hand does;
4 that your charitable deeds may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, himself will reward you openly.
5 And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Verily, I say to you, They have their reward.
6 But do you, when you pray, go into your closet, and when you have closed the door, pray to your Father who is in secret: and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 Be not, therefore, like them; for your Father knows what things you need before you ask him.
9 In this manner, therefore, pray you: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven.
11 Give us this day the bread for our support.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.
14 For if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you forgive not men their offenses, neither will your Father forgive your offenses.
16 And when you fast, do not put on a sad countenance, as the hypocrites do; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to be fasting. Verily, I say to you, They have their reward.
17 But do you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face;
18 that you may not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal.
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The lamp of the body is the eye: if, therefore, your eye be sound, your whole body will be light:
23 But if your eye be diseased, your whole body will be dark. If therefore, the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No one can serve two masters: for he will either hate the one and love the other; or he will hold to the one, and neglect the other. You can not serve God and riches.
25 For this reason I say to you, Be not anxious for your life, what you shall eat, and what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not your life a greater gift than food, and your body than clothing?
26 Observe the birds of the air, that they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into granaries. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?
27 Which of you, by his anxiety, can add one span to his life?
28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow: they toil not, nor do they spin.
29 But I say to you, That Solomon, in all his glory, was not clothed like one of these.
30 If then, God so clothes the herb of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 Therefore, be not anxious, saying: What shall we eat? or, what shall we drink? or, with what shall we be clothed?
32 For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you in addition.
34 Therefore, be not anxious about the morrow, for the morrow will have anxieties of its own. Sufficient for the day is its own evil.
