1‘Be careful not to do good deeds in front of other people. Don’t do those deeds to be seen by others. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you.2‘When you give to needy people, do not announce it by having trumpets blown. Do not be like those who only pretend to be holy. They announce what they do in the synagogues and on the streets. They want to be honoured by other people. What I’m about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward.3When you give to needy people, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.4Then your giving will be done secretly. Your Father will reward you, because he sees what you do secretly.
Prayer
5‘When you pray, do not be like those who only pretend to be holy. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners. They want to be seen by other people. What I’m about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward.6When you pray, go into your room. Close the door and pray to your Father, who can’t be seen. Your Father will reward you, because he sees what you do secretly.7When you pray, do not keep talking on and on. That is what ungodly people do. They think they will be heard because they talk a lot.8Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need even before you ask him.9‘This is how you should pray. ‘ “Our Father in heaven, may your name be honoured.10May your kingdom come. May what you want to happen be done on earth as it is done in heaven.11Give us today our daily bread.12And forgive us our sins, just as we also have forgiven those who sin against us.13Keep us from sinning when we are tempted. Save us from the evil one.”14Forgive other people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you.15But if you do not forgive the sins of other people, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Fasting
16‘When you go without eating, do not look gloomy like those who only pretend to be holy. They make their faces look very sad. They want to show people they are fasting. What I’m about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward.17But when you go without eating, put olive oil on your head. Wash your face.18Then others will not know that you are fasting. Only your Father, who can’t be seen, will know it. Your Father will reward you, because he sees what you do secretly.
Gather riches in heaven
19‘Do not gather for yourselves riches on earth. Moths and rats can destroy them. Thieves can break in and steal them.20Instead, gather for yourselves riches in heaven. There, moths and rats do not destroy them. There, thieves do not break in and steal them.21Your heart will be where your riches are.22‘The eye is like a lamp for the body. Suppose your eyes are healthy. Then your whole body will be full of light.23But suppose your eyes can’t see well. Then your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light inside you is darkness, then it is very dark!24‘No one can serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one of them and love the other. Or you will be faithful to one and dislike the other. You can’t serve God and money at the same time.
Do not worry
25‘I tell you, do not worry. Don’t worry about your life and what you will eat or drink. And don’t worry about your body and what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than eating? Aren’t there more important things for the body than clothes?26Look at the birds of the air. They don’t plant or gather crops. They don’t put away crops in storerooms. But your Father who is in heaven feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are?27Can you add even one hour to your life by worrying?28‘And why do you worry about clothes? See how the wild flowers grow. They don’t work or make clothing.29But here is what I tell you. Not even Solomon in all his royal robes was dressed like one of these flowers.30If that is how God dresses the wild grass, won’t he dress you even better? Your faith is so small! After all, the grass is here only today. Tomorrow it is thrown into the fire.31So don’t worry. Don’t say, “What will we eat?” Or, “What will we drink?” Or, “What will we wear?”32People who are ungodly run after all those things. Your Father who is in heaven knows that you need them.33But put God’s kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all those things will also be given to you.34So don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6
English Standard Version
Giving to the Needy
1“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (Mt 6:16; Mt 23:5; 1Jo 2:29)2“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (Lu 6:24; Joh 5:44; 1Co 13:3)3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Mt 6:6; Mt 6:18)
The Lord’s Prayer
5“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (Mt 6:2; Mt 6:16; Mr 11:25; Lu 18:11)6But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (2Ki 4:33; Isa 26:20; Mt 6:4; Mt 6:18)7“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. (1Ki 18:26; Pr 10:19; Ec 5:2; Mt 5:47; Mt 6:32)8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Mt 6:32)9Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.[1] (Isa 29:23; Mt 6:1; Lu 1:49; Lu 11:2; Joh 17:6; 1Pe 3:15)10Your kingdom come, your will be done,[2] on earth as it is in heaven. (Ps 103:20; Da 4:35; Mt 3:2; Mt 4:17; Mt 12:50; Mt 26:42; Lu 22:42; Ac 21:14; Heb 13:21)11Give us this day our daily bread,[3] (Pr 30:8; Mt 6:34)12and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.[4] (Mt 13:19; Mt 26:41; Mr 14:38; Lu 22:40; Lu 22:46; Joh 17:15; 1Co 10:13; 2Th 3:3; 2Ti 4:18)14For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, (Mr 11:25; Lu 6:37; Eph 4:32; Col 3:13)15but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Mt 18:35; Jas 2:13)
Fasting
16“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (Isa 58:5; Mt 6:2; Mt 6:5)17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, (Ru 3:3; 2Sa 12:20)18that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Mt 6:4; Mt 6:6)
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[5] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, (Mt 19:21; Mt 24:43; Lu 12:21; Lu 12:33; Lu 18:22; 1Ti 6:9; 1Ti 6:17; Heb 13:5; Jas 5:2)20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Mt 6:19)21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.22“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, (Lu 11:34)23but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (De 15:9; Pr 28:22; Mt 6:22; Mt 20:15)24“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.[6] (Lu 16:9; Lu 16:11; Lu 16:13; Ro 6:16; Jas 4:4)
Do Not Be Anxious
25“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Mt 6:27; Mt 6:31; Mt 6:34; Mt 10:19; Mt 13:22; Lu 12:22; 1Co 7:32; Php 4:6; 1Pe 5:7)26Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Job 38:41; Ps 147:9; Mt 10:31)27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[7] (Lu 2:52)28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (1Ki 10:4)30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Mt 8:26; Mt 14:31; Mt 16:8; Mt 17:20)31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. (Mt 6:7; Mt 6:8)33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (1Ki 3:11; Mt 5:6; Mt 5:20; Mt 6:10; Mr 10:29; 1Ti 4:8; 1Pe 3:9)34“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Jas 4:13)