Matthew 6

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and streets to be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not heap up empty words like the Gentiles, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen by your Father who is in secret, rather than by others. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 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 wealth. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single moment to his life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither labor nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 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? So do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Rights and attribution