Day 57 – Sermon on the Mount – Part 2

₅“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners, so that everyone will see them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. ₆But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

₇“When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. ₈Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. ₉This, then, is how you should pray:

₁₄“If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. ₁₅But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.

₁₆“And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. ₁₇When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair, ₁₈so that others cannot know that you are fasting — only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

₁₉“Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. ₂₀Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. ₂₁For your heart will always be where your riches are.

₂₂“The eyes are like a lamp for the body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body will be full of light; ₂₃but if your eyes are no good, your body will be in darkness. So if the light in you is darkness, how terribly dark it will be!

₂₄“No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

₂₅“This is why I tell you not to be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? ₂₆Look at the birds: they do not sow seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? ₂₇Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?

₂₈“And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. ₂₉But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. ₃₀It is God who clothes the wild grass — grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burnt up in the oven. Won't he be all the more sure to clothe you? How little faith you have!

₃₁“So do not start worrying: ‘Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?’ ₃₂(These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. ₃₃Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. ₃₄So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

₁“Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, ₂for God will judge you in the same way as you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. ₃Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, and pay no attention to the log in your own eye? ₄How dare you say to your brother, ‘Please, let me take that speck out of your eye,’ when you have a log in your own eye? ₅You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

₆“Do not give what is holy to dogs — they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs — they will only trample them underfoot.

₇“Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. ₈For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock. ₉Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread? ₁₀Or would you give him a snake when he asks for a fish? ₁₁Bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

₁₂“Do for others what you want them to do for you: this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets.

₁₃“Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. ₁₄But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it.

₁₅“Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. ₁₆You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briars do not bear figs. ₁₇A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit. ₁₈A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. ₁₉And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. ₂₀So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do.

₂₁“Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do. ₂₂When Judgement Day comes, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!’ ₂₃Then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!’

₂₄“So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. ₂₅The rain poured down, the rivers overflowed, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock.

₂₆“But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ₂₇The rain poured down, the rivers overflowed, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!”

₂₈When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowd was amazed at the way he taught. ₂₉He wasn't like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority.