Concerning Almsgiving

6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.^(A)

² “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.^{(B) 3} But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.^[a](C)

Concerning Prayer

⁵ “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.^{(D) 6} But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.^[b](E)

⁷ “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.^{(F) 8} Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹ “Pray, then, in this way:

¹⁴ “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,^{(K) 15} but if you do not forgive others,^[f] neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.^(L)

Concerning Fasting

¹⁶ “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.^[g]

Concerning Treasures

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust^[h] consume and where thieves break in and steal,^{(M) 20} but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust^[i] consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.^{(N) 21} For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Eye

²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,^{(O) 23} but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Serving Two Masters

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.^[j](P)

Do Not Worry

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,^[k] or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?^{(Q) 26} Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?^{(R) 27} And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?^{[l] 28} And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³² For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God^[m] and his^[n] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.^(S)

³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

The Lord’s Prayer

11 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”^{(A) 2} So he said to them, “When you pray, say:

Perseverance in Prayer

⁵ And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶ for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ ⁷ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything out of friendship, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.^(C)

⁹ “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.^{(D) 10} For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹ Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for^[e] a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? ¹² Or if the child asked for an egg, would give a scorpion? ¹³ If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit^[f] to those who ask him!”

Jesus and Beelzebul

¹⁴ Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed.^{(E) 15} But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” ¹⁶ Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven.^{(F) 17} But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.^{(G) 18} If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?—for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹ Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists^[g] cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.^{(H) 21} When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. ²² But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder. ²³ Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.^(I)

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

²⁴ “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ When it returns, it finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first.”^(J)

True Blessedness

²⁷ While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!”^{(K) 28} But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”^(L)

The Sign of Jonah

²⁹ When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.^{(M) 30} For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. ³¹ The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed, something greater than Solomon is here!^{(N) 32} The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and indeed, something greater than Jonah is here!^(O)

The Light of the Body

³³ “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket;^[h] rather, one puts it on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.^{(P) 34} Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is unhealthy, your body is full of darkness.^{(Q) 35} Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶ But if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.”

Jesus Denounces Pharisees and Experts in the Law

³⁷ While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him, so he went in and took his place at the table.^{(R) 38} The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner.^{(S) 39} Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.^{(T) 40} You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ So give as alms those things that are within and then everything will be clean for you.^(U)

⁴² “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others.^{(V) 43} Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.^{(W) 44} Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves on which people unknowingly walk.”^(X)

⁴⁵ One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us, too.” ⁴⁶ And he said, “Woe also to you experts in the law! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them.^{(Y) 47} Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed.^{(Z) 48} So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹ For this reason the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’^{(AA) 50} so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.^{(AB) 52} Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”^(AC)

⁵³ When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees became hostile to him and began to interrogate him about many things, ⁵⁴ lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.^(AD)