1 'Take heed your kindness not to do before men, to be seen by them, and if not — reward ye have not from your Father who [is] in the heavens; 2 whenever, therefore, thou mayest do kindness, thou mayest not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory from men; verily I say to you — they have their reward! 3 'But thou, doing kindness, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth, 4 that thy kindness may be in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret Himself shall reward thee manifestly. 5 'And when thou mayest pray, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites, because they love in the synagogues, and in the corners of the broad places — standing — to pray, that they may be seen of men; verily I say to you, that they have their reward. 6 'But thou, when thou mayest pray, go into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who [is] in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly. 7 'And — praying — ye may not use vain repetitions like the nations, for they think that in their much speaking they shall be heard, 8 be ye not therefore like to them, for your Father doth know those things that ye have need of before your asking him; 9 thus therefore pray ye: 'Our Father who [art] in the heavens! hallowed be Thy name. 10 'Thy reign come: Thy will come to pass, as in heaven also on the earth. 11 'Our appointed bread give us to-day. 12 'And forgive us our debts, as also we forgive our debtors. 13◆ 'And mayest Thou not lead us to temptation, but deliver us from the evil, because Thine is the reign, and the power, and the glory — to the ages. Amen. 14 'For, if ye may forgive men their trespasses He also will forgive you — your Father who [is] in the heavens; 15 but if ye may not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 16 'And when ye may fast, be ye not as the hypocrites, of sour countenances, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men fasting; verily I say to you, that they have their reward. 17 'But thou, fasting, anoint thy head, and wash thy face, 18 that thou mayest not appear to men fasting, but to thy Father who [is] in secret, and thy Father, who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly. 19 'Treasure not up to yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust disfigure, and where thieves break through and steal, 20 but treasure up to yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth disfigure, and where thieves do not break through nor steal, 21 for where your treasure is, there will be also your heart. 22 'The lamp of the body is the eye, if, therefore, thine eye may be perfect, all thy body shall be enlightened, 23 but if thine eye may be evil, all thy body shall be dark; if, therefore, the light that [is] in thee is darkness — the darkness, how great! 24 'None is able to serve two lords, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one, and despise the other; ye are not able to serve God and Mammon. 25 'Because of this I say to you, be not anxious for your life, what ye may eat, and what ye may drink, nor for your body, what ye may put on. Is not the life more than the nourishment, and the body than the clothing? 26 look to the fowls of the heaven, for they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into storehouses, and your heavenly Father doth nourish them; are not ye much better than they? 27 'And who of you, being anxious, is able to add to his age one cubit? 28 and about clothing why are ye anxious? consider well the lilies of the field; how do they grow? they do not labour, nor do they spin; 29 and I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. 30 'And if the herb of the field, that to-day is, and to-morrow is cast to the furnace, God doth so clothe — not much more you, O ye of little faith? 31 therefore ye may not be anxious, saying, What may we eat? or, What may we drink? or, What may we put round? 32 for all these do the nations seek for, for your heavenly Father doth know that ye have need of all these; 33 but seek ye first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added to you. 34 Be not therefore anxious for the morrow, for the morrow shall be anxious for its own things; sufficient for the day [is] the evil of it.
Matthew · Young's Literal Translation
Matthew 6 Young's Literal Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (34)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Matthew 23:5; John 12:43; Hebrews 6:10; Matthew 23:28–30; Luke 16:15
- 2 Matthew 6:5; 2 Corinthians 9:6–15; John 5:41; Matthew 6:16; James 2:15–16
- 3 John 7:4; Matthew 9:30; Mark 1:44; Matthew 12:19
- 4 Matthew 6:18; Matthew 6:6; Jeremiah 17:10; Luke 14:14; Psalm 44:21
- 5 Matthew 6:2; Luke 18:10–11; Luke 18:13; Mark 11:25; Isaiah 55:6–7
- 6 2 Kings 4:33; Matthew 14:23; Isaiah 65:24; Acts 9:40; Psalm 34:15
- 7 Ecclesiastes 5:2–3; Ecclesiastes 5:7; 1 Kings 18:26–29; Matthew 6:32; Matthew 26:44
- 8 Matthew 6:32; Luke 12:30; Philippians 4:6; John 16:23–27; Psalm 38:9
- 9 Luke 11:1–4; Revelation 4:11; Romans 8:15; Isaiah 64:8; Psalm 111:9
- 10 Hebrews 10:36; Matthew 26:42; Matthew 12:50; John 4:34; 1 Thessalonians 5:18
- 11 Proverbs 30:8; Luke 11:3; Matthew 4:4; Psalm 34:10; John 6:31–59
- 12 Ephesians 4:32; Mark 11:25; Ephesians 1:7; Matthew 18:21–35; Colossians 3:13
- 13 1 Corinthians 10:13; John 17:15; Revelation 7:14–17; Matthew 26:41; 2 Thessalonians 3:3
- 14 Ephesians 4:32; Mark 11:25; Colossians 3:13; Matthew 7:2; James 2:13
- 15 Matthew 18:35
- 16 Isaiah 58:3–5; Matthew 9:14–15; Nehemiah 1:4; Daniel 9:3; Psalm 69:10
- 17 Ruth 3:3; Ecclesiastes 9:8; 2 Samuel 12:20; Daniel 10:2–3; 2 Samuel 14:2
- 18 Matthew 6:6; Matthew 6:4; 2 Corinthians 10:18; 2 Corinthians 5:9; 1 Peter 2:13
- 19 Hebrews 13:5; 1 John 2:15–16; Luke 12:21; Proverbs 23:4–5; James 5:1–3
- 20 Luke 12:33; Matthew 19:21; 1 Timothy 6:19; James 2:5; Luke 18:22
- 21 Colossians 3:1–3; Luke 12:34; 2 Corinthians 4:18; Proverbs 4:23; Isaiah 33:6
- 22 Luke 11:34–36; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Colossians 3:22
- 23 1 John 2:11; Matthew 6:22; Isaiah 5:20–21; Jeremiah 4:22; Proverbs 26:12
- 24 1 John 2:15–16; Luke 16:13; James 4:4; 1 Timothy 6:9–10; Joshua 24:15
- 25 Philippians 4:6; Romans 8:32; 1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22; Luke 12:22–31
- 26 Matthew 10:29–31; Psalm 147:9; Luke 12:24–32; Job 38:41; Psalm 145:15–16
- 27 Luke 12:25–26; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Matthew 5:36; Psalm 39:5–6; 1 Corinthians 12:18
- 28 Matthew 6:25; Philippians 4:6; Luke 12:27; Luke 22:35–36; Matthew 6:31
- 29 2 Chronicles 9:20–22; 2 Chronicles 9:4–6; 1 Timothy 2:9–10; 1 Kings 10:4–7; 1 Peter 3:2–5
- 30 Luke 12:28; Matthew 14:31; 1 Peter 1:24; Matthew 8:26; Matthew 16:8
- 31 1 Peter 5:7; Luke 12:29; Matthew 4:4; Psalm 55:22; Matthew 15:33
- 32 Matthew 6:8; Luke 12:30; Ephesians 4:17; Luke 11:11–13; Psalm 17:14
- 33 Luke 12:31; Matthew 5:6; John 6:27; Psalm 34:9–10; Psalm 84:11–12
- 34 Matthew 6:25; John 14:27; Hebrews 13:5–6; John 16:33; Luke 11:3
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
Why does my Bible say something different?
- Matthew 6:13: “For thine is the kingdom…”
The closing doxology of the Lord’s Prayer, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,” is missing from the oldest Greek manuscripts of Matthew and from most of the Latin tradition, but it is very old: a shorter form already appears in the Didache. The Patriarchal Text includes it, and in the Divine Liturgy the priest sings it in a Trinitarian form. Most scholars see it as an early liturgical response that entered the text.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
The order established for your edification requires that ye learn first what to believe, and afterwards what to ask. For so saith the Apostle, "Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord, shall be saved." This testimony blessed Paul cited out of the Prophet; for by the Prophet were those times foretold, when all men should call upon God; …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
He roots out in what remains the most tyrannical passion of all, the rage and madness with respect to vainglory, which springs up in them that do right.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Lay up treasure, therefore, in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt." And, "Be ye kind and merciful, as your Father also is kind and merciful, and maketh His sun to rise on sinners, and the righteous, and the wicked.
In like manner also, that [text] which says, "Ye cannot serve two masters," He does Himself interpret, saying, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon;" acknowledging God indeed as God, but mentioning mammon, a thing having also an existence.
… unto me, through that Medicine of our wounds who hung upon the tree, and who, sitting at Thy right hand, "maketh intercession for us." I know that she acted mercifully, and from the heart forgave her debtors their debts; do Thou also forgive her debts, whatever she contracted during so many years since the water of salvation.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)