6 Take care not to do your good deeds publicly or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward [[a]reserved for and awaiting you] with and from your Father Who is in heaven.
2 Thus, whenever you give to the poor, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites in the synagogues and in the streets like to do, that they may be [b]recognized and honored and praised by men. Truly I tell you, they have their reward [c]in full already.
3 But when you give to charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 So that your deeds of charity may be in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly.
5 Also when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward [d]in full already.
6 But when you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.
7 And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking.(A)
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9 Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven ([e]left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have [f]given up resentment against) our debtors.
13 And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14 For if you forgive people their trespasses [their [g]reckless and willful sins, [h]leaving them, letting them go, and [i]giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their [j]reckless and willful sins, [k]leaving them, letting them go, and [l]giving up resentment], neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.
16 And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy and [m]sour and [n]dreary like the hypocrites, for they put on a dismal countenance, that their fasting may be apparent to and seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward [o]in full already.(B)
17 But when you fast, perfume your head and wash your face,
18 So that your fasting may not be noticed by men but by your Father, Who sees in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.
19 Do not [p]gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal.
20 But [q]gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal;
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your entire body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your [r]conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!
24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be [s]against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon ([t]deceitful riches, money, possessions, or [u]whatever is trusted in).
25 Therefore I tell you, stop being [v]perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27 And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the [w]span of his life?(C)
28 And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and [x]learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.
29 Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his [y]magnificence (excellence, dignity, and grace) was not arrayed like one of these.(D)
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?
32 For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.
33 But seek ([z]aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness ([aa]His way of doing and being right), and then all these things [ab]taken together will be given you besides.
34 So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.
Footnotes
- Matthew 6:1 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 6:2 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
- Matthew 6:2 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 6:5 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 6:12 James Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary.
- Matthew 6:12 Webster’s New International Dictionary offers this phrase as a definition of the word “forgive.”
- Matthew 6:14 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 6:14 James Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary.
- Matthew 6:14 Webster’s New International Dictionary offers this phrase as a definition of the word “forgive.”
- Matthew 6:15 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 6:15 James Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary.
- Matthew 6:15 Webster’s New International Dictionary offers this phrase as a definition of the word “forgive.”
- Matthew 6:16 Martin Luther, cited by Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 6:16 Richard Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament.
- Matthew 6:16 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 6:19 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- Matthew 6:20 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- Matthew 6:23 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
- Matthew 6:24 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 6:24 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
- Matthew 6:24 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- Matthew 6:25 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
- Matthew 6:27 Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon: the word translated “cubit” is used as a measurement of time, as well as a measurement of length.
- Matthew 6:28 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- Matthew 6:29 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- Matthew 6:33 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- Matthew 6:33 Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation.
- Matthew 6:33 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.