LO - Matthew - 6

6:1  Take heed that you perform not your religious duties before men, in order to be observed by them; otherwise you will obtain no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

6:2  When, therefore, you give alms, do not proclaim it by sound of trumpet, as the hypocrites do, in the assemblies and in the streets, that they may be extolled by men. Indeed, I say to you, they have received their reward.

6:3  But you, when you give alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does;

6:4  that your alms may be in secret; and your Father, to whom nothing is secret, will himself recompense you.

6:5  And when you pray, be not like the hypocrites, who affect to pray standing in the assemblies, and at the corners of the streets, that men may observe them. Indeed, I say to you, they have received their reward.

6:6  But you, when you would pray, retire to your closet; and having shut the door, pray to your Father; and your Father, to whom, though he is unseen himself, nothing is secret, will recompense you.

6:7  And in prayer, use not a multiplicity of words as the Pagans do, who think that using many words will gain them acceptance.

6:8  Imitate them not; for your Father knows what things you want, before you ask him.

6:9  Thus, therefore, pray you: Our Father, who art in heaven, thy name be hallowed;

6:10  thy Reign come; thy will be done upon earth, as it is in heaven;

6:11  give us to-day our daily bread;

6:12  forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;

6:13  and lead us not into temptation, but preserve us from evil.

6:14  For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

6:15  but if you forgive not others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

6:16  Moreover, when you fast, look not dismal, as the hypocrites, who disfigure their faces, that men may observe that they fast. Indeed, I say to you, they have their reward.

6:17  But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face;

6:18  that your fasting may not appear to men, but to your Father; and your Father, to whom, though he is unseen himself, nothing is secret, will recompense you.

6:19  Amass not for yourselves treasure upon the earth, where moths and rust may consume it, or thieves breaking in may steal it.

6:20  But provide for yourselves treasure in heaven, where are neither moths nor rust to consume it, nor thieves to break in and steal it.

6:21  For where your treasure is, your heart will also be.

6:22  The eye is the lamp of the body. If, therefore, your eye be sound, your whole body will be enlightened;

6:23  but if your eye be distempered, your whole body will be dark. And if even the light which is in you be darkness, how great will the darkness be!

6:24  A man can not serve two masters; for either he will hate one, and love the other; or at least he will attend to one, and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.

6:25  Therefore I charge you, be not anxious about your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor about your body, what you shall wear. Is not life a greater gift than food; and the body more than raiment?

6:26  Observe the fowls of heaven. They neither sow nor reap. They have no storehouse; but your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you much more valuable than they?

6:27  Besides, which of you can, by his anxiety, prolong his life one hour?

6:28  And why are you anxious about raiment? Mark the lilies of the field. How do they grow? They toil not: they spin not.

6:29  Yet I affirm that even Solomon in all his glory, was not equally adorned with one of these.

6:30  If, then, God so array the herbage, which to-day is in the field, and to-morrow will be cast into the oven, will he not much more array you, O you distrustful!

6:31  Therefore say not anxiously, (as the heathens do,) What shall we eat; or what shall we drink; or with what shall we be clothed?

6:32  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

6:33  But seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness required by him; and all these things shall be superadded to you.

6:34  Be not then anxious about the morrow: the morrow will be anxious about itself. Sufficient for every day is its own trouble.