6:1 "Be careful not to do your devotional practices in the sight of others, otherwise you will have no benefit from your LORD in the spiritual realm.
6:2 Therefore, when you do your devotional practices, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so they may receive the honor of others. Truly I say to you, they have already collected their reward.
6:3 But when you do devotional service, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing:
6:4 Thus your devotional service may be done in secret, and your LORD who sees you in secret may reward you openly.
6:5 And when you pray, do not do what the hypocrites do, for they like to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so they may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your closet and shut the door, and pray to your LORD privately; and your LORD who sees what is done privately shall reward you openly.
6:7 And when you pray, do not use tedious repetition as the pagans do, for they assume they will be heard due to their many words.
6:8 Don’t be like them, for your LORD knows what things you need before you ask Him.
6:9 Therefore, you can pray in this way: 'Our spiritual LORD, Holy is Your Name.
6:10 Show us Your sanctuary. May Your will be done on earth as it is in the spiritual realm.
6:11 Give us today the food that sustains life.
6:12 Please forgive our offenses, as we forgive those who offend us.
6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from wickedness.'1
6:14 For if you forgive others for their offenses, your spiritual LORD will also forgive you.
6:15 But if you don’t forgive the offenses of others, neither will your LORD forgive your offenses.
6:16 Furthermore, when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites who distort their faces so others will know they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have already collected their reward.
6:17 But you, when you fast, rub oil on your head and wash your face,
6:18 so that you do not appear to others as fasting, but only to your LORD who is in hiding – and your LORD who sees what is hidden shall reward you openly.
6:19 Don’t store up treasures on earth, where moths and rust will ruin, and where thieves break in and steal.
6:20 But store up treasures in the spiritual realm, where neither moth nor rust will ruin, nor where thieves cannot break in and steal.
6:21 For where your treasure is, your heart will also be.
6:22 Vision is the lamp of the body. So if your vision is clear, your whole body will be full of light.
6:23 But if your vision is poor, your whole body will be full of darkness. Therefore if the light within you has gone out – how great is that darkness!
6:24 No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate one and love the other or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and materialism.
6:25 For this reason I say to you, don’t be anxious about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body and what you will wear. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothing?
6:26 See the birds of the air, for they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor gather within barns: Yet your spiritual LORD feeds them. Are you not worth more than they?
6:27 Which of you, by your thoughts, can add a single cubit onto your stature?
6:28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Just see how the flowers of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.
6:29 And yet I say to you, that even Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed like one of these.
6:30 Thus if God so dressed today’s wheat of the field, which is tossed into the oven tomorrow, will He not clothe you – you of little faith?
6:31 Do not be anxious then, asking, 'What will we eat? What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?'
6:32 For the atheists eagerly seek all these things; but your spiritual LORD knows everything you need.
6:33 But first seek His sanctuary and His devotion and everything else will be taken care of for you.
6:34 Thus do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day brings enough challenges as it is."
Footnote:
1. Verse 6:13. Later Greek manuscripts added an additional phrase (translated):
“For You are the sanctuary, the power and the glory for ever Amen.”
6:2 Therefore, when you do your devotional practices, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so they may receive the honor of others. Truly I say to you, they have already collected their reward.
6:3 But when you do devotional service, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing:
6:4 Thus your devotional service may be done in secret, and your LORD who sees you in secret may reward you openly.
6:5 And when you pray, do not do what the hypocrites do, for they like to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so they may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your closet and shut the door, and pray to your LORD privately; and your LORD who sees what is done privately shall reward you openly.
6:7 And when you pray, do not use tedious repetition as the pagans do, for they assume they will be heard due to their many words.
6:8 Don’t be like them, for your LORD knows what things you need before you ask Him.
6:9 Therefore, you can pray in this way: 'Our spiritual LORD, Holy is Your Name.
6:10 Show us Your sanctuary. May Your will be done on earth as it is in the spiritual realm.
6:11 Give us today the food that sustains life.
6:12 Please forgive our offenses, as we forgive those who offend us.
6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from wickedness.'1
6:14 For if you forgive others for their offenses, your spiritual LORD will also forgive you.
6:15 But if you don’t forgive the offenses of others, neither will your LORD forgive your offenses.
6:16 Furthermore, when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites who distort their faces so others will know they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have already collected their reward.
6:17 But you, when you fast, rub oil on your head and wash your face,
6:18 so that you do not appear to others as fasting, but only to your LORD who is in hiding – and your LORD who sees what is hidden shall reward you openly.
6:19 Don’t store up treasures on earth, where moths and rust will ruin, and where thieves break in and steal.
6:20 But store up treasures in the spiritual realm, where neither moth nor rust will ruin, nor where thieves cannot break in and steal.
6:21 For where your treasure is, your heart will also be.
6:22 Vision is the lamp of the body. So if your vision is clear, your whole body will be full of light.
6:23 But if your vision is poor, your whole body will be full of darkness. Therefore if the light within you has gone out – how great is that darkness!
6:24 No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate one and love the other or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and materialism.
6:25 For this reason I say to you, don’t be anxious about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body and what you will wear. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothing?
6:26 See the birds of the air, for they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor gather within barns: Yet your spiritual LORD feeds them. Are you not worth more than they?
6:27 Which of you, by your thoughts, can add a single cubit onto your stature?
6:28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Just see how the flowers of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.
6:29 And yet I say to you, that even Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed like one of these.
6:30 Thus if God so dressed today’s wheat of the field, which is tossed into the oven tomorrow, will He not clothe you – you of little faith?
6:31 Do not be anxious then, asking, 'What will we eat? What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?'
6:32 For the atheists eagerly seek all these things; but your spiritual LORD knows everything you need.
6:33 But first seek His sanctuary and His devotion and everything else will be taken care of for you.
6:34 Thus do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day brings enough challenges as it is."
Footnote:
1. Verse 6:13. Later Greek manuscripts added an additional phrase (translated):
“For You are the sanctuary, the power and the glory for ever Amen.”
