Matthew 6

¹Be careful not to practice your righteousness before others in order to be watched by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens.

²So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the performers do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you: they have been paid in full. ³But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will repay you.

⁵And when you pray, do not be like the performers, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and at the corners of the main streets so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you: they have been paid in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your inner room and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in the hidden place. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will repay you.

⁷And when you pray, do not babble on like the pagans, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹Pray, then, like this: Our Father in the heavens, let your name be held holy, ¹⁰let your kingdom come, let your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth. ¹¹Give us today our bread for the coming day, ¹²and release us from our debts, as we also have released our debtors. ¹³And do not bring us into the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.

¹⁴For if you release others from their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also release you. ¹⁵But if you do not release others, neither will your Father release your transgressions.

¹⁶And when you fast, do not be gloomy like the performers, for they disfigure their faces so that their fasting may be visible to others. Truly I tell you: they have been paid in full. ¹⁷But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that your fasting may not be visible to others but only to your Father who is in the hidden place. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will repay you.

¹⁹Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and where thieves dig through and steal. ²⁰Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, and where thieves do not dig through or steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²²The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is generous, your whole body will be full of light. ²³But if your eye is stingy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

²⁴No one can serve as a slave to 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 both God and Mammon.

²⁵For this reason I tell you: do not be anxious 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? ²⁶Look at the birds of the sky: they do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth far more than they? ²⁷And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to the span of your life? ²⁸And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the wildflowers of the field, how they grow: they do not toil or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of these. ³⁰Now 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?

³¹So do not be anxious, saying, "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear?" ³²For the pagans chase after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴So do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.