< Matthew 6 >
1 "Be careful not to do your good deeds in the sight of men, in order to be observed by them. If you do, you have no reward with your heavenly Father.
2 "And whatever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and streets, in order that men may praise them. In solemn truth I tell you they already have their reward in full.
3 "But when you give alms, do not let your right hand know what your left is doing,
4 "so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
5 "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the avenues, in order that men may see them. In solemn truth I tell you that they have their reward in full.
6 "But you, when you pray, go into your own room and shut your door; pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 "While praying do not say the same words over and over again, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that by their much speaking they will gain attention.
8 "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 "So pray in this way. "Our Father who art in heaven, May thy name be hallowed,
10 thy kingdom come, and thy will be done, On earth, as in heaven.
11 Give us today our bread for the day before us;
12 And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors;
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One; For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Amen.
14 "For if you forgive men their offenses against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you also;
15 "but if you do not forgive men your offenses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your offenses.
16 "When you fast, do not look downcast like the hypocrites; for they disfigure their faces so that it may be apparent to men that they are fasting. In solemn truth I tell you, they already have received their reward.
17 "But when one of you fasts, let him anoint his head and wash his face,
18 "so that he may not appear to men to be fasting, but to his Father who is in secret; and his Father who sees in secret will reward him.
19 "Store up for yourselves no treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;
20 "but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
21 "For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 "The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye is sound, your whole body will be well lighted;
23 "but if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be darkened. If then the very light within you is darkness, how dense is that darkness!
24 "No slave can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will pay heed to the one and despise the other. You cannot be the slaves both of God and of gold.
25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, inquiring what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, inquiring what you shall wear. Is not your life more than its food, and your body than its clothing?
26 "Behold! the birds in the sky! They neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them; and are not you worth more than they?
27 "Which one of you by being anxious is able to add even one cubit to his stature?
28 "Why be anxious then about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin.
29 "But I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was robed like one of these.
30 "If God then so clothes the grass of the field, which blooms today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith?
31 "Then do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’"
32 "For all these are things that the Gentiles are eagerly seeking; for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of them all.
33 "But continue to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
34 "Do not then be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own anxieties. Enough for each day are its own troubles."
