Giving to the Needy

1 “Beware of ^rpracticing your righteousness before other people in order ^sto be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 ^t“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 ^ube praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have ^vreceived their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. ^wAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The Lord’s Prayer

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love ^xto stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. ^yTruly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, ^zgo into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. ^aAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as ^bthe Gentiles do, for ^cthey think that they will be heard ^dfor their many words. 8 Do not be like them, ^efor your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 ^fPray then like this:

14 ^rFor if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 ^sbut if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Fasting

16 “And ^twhen you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. ^uTruly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, ^vanoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. ^wAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

19 ^x“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where ^ymoth and rust⁵ destroy and where thieves ^zbreak in and steal, 20 ^xbut lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 ^a“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 ^abut if ^byour eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24 ^c“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 ^dmoney.⁶

Do Not Be Anxious

25 ^e“Therefore I tell you, ^fdo 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? 26 ^gLook at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. ^hAre you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ⁱspan of life?⁷ 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, ^jeven Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But 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, ^kO you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For ^lthe Gentiles seek after all these things, and ^myour heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But ⁿseek first ^othe kingdom of God and his righteousness, ^pand all these things will be added to you.

34 ^q“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Warning Against Worldliness

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions¹ are ^yat war within you?² 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^zwrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 ^aYou adulterous people!³ Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^bTherefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit ^cthat he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But ^dhe gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^e“God opposes the proud but ^dgives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^fResist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 ^gDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^hCleanse your hands, you sinners, and ⁱpurify your hearts, ^jyou double-minded. 9 ^kBe wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 ^lHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

11 ^mDo not speak evil against one another, brothers.⁴ The one who speaks against a brother or ⁿjudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only ^oone lawgiver and ^pjudge, he who is able to save and ^qto destroy. But ^rwho are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, ^s“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^tyou are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, ^u“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^vAll such boasting is evil. 17 ^wSo whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.