MatthewChapter 6

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¹"Be careful not to do your good deeds in front of people just so they will see you. If you do, you will get no reward from your Father in heaven. ²So when you give to the poor, don't blow a trumpet to announce it. That is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets. They want people to praise them. I tell you the truth, they already have their full reward. ³But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴Then your giving will be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁵And when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so people will see them. I tell you the truth, they already have their full reward. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door. Pray to your Father, who can't be seen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, don't keep babbling like pagans do. They think they will be heard because they use so many words. ⁸Don't be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹So this is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. ¹⁰May your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹Give us today our daily bread. ¹²And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven those who owe us. ¹³And lead us not into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.' ¹⁴For if you forgive people when they sin against you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive people their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. ¹⁶When you fast, don't look gloomy like the hypocrites do. They make their faces look miserable to show people they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they already have their full reward. ¹⁷But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face. ¹⁸Then people won't see that you are fasting. Only your Father, who can't be seen, will know. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ¹⁹Don't store up treasures for yourselves on earth. Here moths and rust destroy them. Here thieves break in and steal them. ²⁰Instead, store up treasures for yourselves in heaven. There moths and rust do not destroy. There thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ²²The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light inside you is really darkness, how deep that darkness is! ²⁴No one can serve two masters. He will hate one and love the other. Or he will be loyal to one and look down on the other. You can't serve both God and money. ²⁵So I tell you, don't worry about your life. Don't worry about what you will eat or drink. Don't worry about your body and what you will wear. Isn't life more than food? Isn't the body more than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds in the sky. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns. Yet your Father in heaven feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than they are? ²⁷Can any of you add a single hour to your life by worrying? ²⁸And why do you worry about clothes? Think about how the wild lilies grow. They don't work or make cloth. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed as well as one of these. ³⁰If that is how God dresses the grass of the field, won't he dress you even better? The grass is here today, and tomorrow it is thrown into the fire. Your faith is so small! ³¹So don't worry. Don't say, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' ³²For the Gentiles chase after all these things. And your Father in heaven knows that you need them. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴So don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.