Matthew 6

1 “But take care not to do your righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward from your Father who is in the heavens. 2 So when you do an act of mercy, do not sound a trumpet ahead of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be given glory by people. Amen I say to you, they have their reward in full. [a] 3 But when you are doing an act of mercy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your act of mercy may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

5 “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the wide streets, so that they may be seen by people. Amen I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 7 And when you pray, do not babble on like the people of the nations, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 So do not be made like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “So pray in this way: [d] †

14 “For if you forgive people their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well; [g] 15 but if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

16 “And when you fast, do not become gloomy-faced like the hypocrites, for they make their faces vanish so that they may appear to people as fasting. Amen I say to you, they have their reward in full. [h] 17 But you, when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that you may not appear to people as fasting, but to your Father who is in what is hidden; and your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and eating destroy and where thieves dig through and steal; [i] 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor eating destroys and where thieves do not dig through or steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be as well.

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. So if your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light; [j] 23 but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. So if the light in you is darkness — how great that darkness is. 24 No one is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. [k]

25 “For this reason I say to you: do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat; nor for your body, what you will put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body more than the clothing? [l] 26 Look at the birds of the sky: they do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? 27 And which of you by being anxious is able to add eighteen inches to his span? [m]

28 “And why are you anxious about clothing? Learn from the lilies of the field, how they grow: they do not labor or spin; 29 but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. 30 And if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith?

31 “So do not be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we put on?’ 32 For the nations go after all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need all of them. 33 But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. [n] 34 So do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious about itself. Enough for the day is its own trouble.”