Matthew 6

₁Jesus said: ‘You must make sure: When you serve the Lord, you must not do it so that all the people can see what you do. If you do that and you want all the people to see when you do good, then your Father in heaven will not be good to you. He will not reward you.’

₂‘When you help poor people, you must not tell it to everyone in the synagogues and on the streets. People who are hypocrites do that. They want people to say that they are good. I tell you this and it is sure: They have already got what they wanted. God will not be good to them. He will not reward them. ₃When you help poor people, you must do it so that other people do not know. ₄Other people must not see that you help poor people. Your Father who sees everything that people can not see will be good to you.’

₅Jesus said: ‘When you pray, you must not pray like hypocrites pray. They like to pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets. They pray there so that all the people can see them. I tell you this and it is sure: They have already got what they wanted. God will not be good to them. He will not reward them. ₆But when you pray, go to your room. Close the door so that no one can see you and pray to your Father. Your Father who sees everything that people can not see will reward you. ₇When you pray, do not use a lot of words and do not ask the same things again and again. People who pray like that do not know God. They think God is like an idol. They think God will listen to them if they pray a lot of words and if they pray for a long time. ₈Do not pray like them because your Father knows what you need. He knows it before you ask Him. ₉You must pray like this:

₁₄When people do things that are wrong against you, you must forgive them. Then your Father in heaven will also forgive you. ₁₅But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.’

₁₆Jesus said: ‘When you fast, do not look sad so that the people know that you are fasting. Hypocrites do that. They show that they are fasting so that people will think they are good people. They do not wash their faces and do not take care of their hair, so that people can see that they are fasting. I tell you this and it is sure: They have already got what they wanted. God will not be good to them just because they do not eat. ₁₇No, when you fast, wash your face and make your hair look good ₁₈so that people can not see that you are fasting. Only your Father must see that you fast. People can not see your Father in heaven, but He can see everything that people can not see. He will be good to you.’

₁₉‘Do not get lots of beautiful and expensive things on earth. Those things must not be important to you. Moths eat them and they rust. Thieves break into houses and steal them. ₂₀It is better to have a treasure in heaven and to be rich with God. In heaven moths and rust can not destroy your treasure and thieves can not break in and steal it. ₂₁The things in heaven where God is must be the most important to you, then you will always think of God in heaven.’

₂₂Jesus said: ‘Your eyes are like a lamp that gives light to you. If your eyes show you what is right and you see people suffer and you help them, then you have light in your life. ₂₃But if your eyes show you what is bad, and you see people suffer but you do not help them, then there is no light in you. If there is no light in you, then it is very dark around you.’

₂₄‘A person can not work for 2 masters, because he will love the one master more than the other master. Or he will work hard for one master and he will do nothing for the other master. You can not serve God and think that money is as important as God.

₂₅That is why I tell you: Do not worry about how you will live or what you will eat and drink. And do not worry about your body or about the clothes that you must wear. Life is more important than food and your body is more important than clothes. ₂₆Look at the birds. They do not sow wheat or cut it off. They do not pick fruit and put it in stores. But your Father in heaven gives them food every day. You are more important to God than the birds. ₂₇It will not help if you worry. You will not live longer, not one hour longer. ₂₈Why do you worry about the clothes that you must wear? Look at the flowers in the field. They do not work or make clothes for themselves. ₂₉But I tell you: King Solomon was rich and he had beautiful clothes, but his clothes were not as beautiful as one of these flowers. ₃₀God made all the plants in the field beautiful, but they do not live for a long time. They grow today, but tomorrow they die and someone throws them into the fire. God will do much more for you and He will take better care of you than of the plants. Why do you have so little faith?

₃₁Do not worry. Do not ask: “Will we have food to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have clothes to wear?” ₃₂Only people who do not know God worry about these things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. ₃₃No, the most important thing for you must be that God is the One who rules over all. You must listen to Him and do what He wants. Then He will also give you all these other things. ₃₄Today you must not worry about what will happen tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own problems. You can worry about them later. Every day has its own problems.’