hair white or black. But your way of speaking must
be "Yes” or "No.” Anything that goes beyond that
comes from the evil one.
★ You have heard that they were told, "An eye for
an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I tell you not to
resist injury, but if anyone strikes you on your right
cheek, turn the other to him too; and if anyone
wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your
coat too. And if anyone forces you to go one mile,
go two miles with him. If anyone begs from you,
give to him, and when anyone wants to borrow from
you. do not turn away.
k You have heard that they were told, "You must
love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell
you, love your enemies and pray for your persecutors,
so that you may show yourselves true sons of your
Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on bad
and good alike, and makes the rain fall on the
upright and the wrongdoers. For if you love only
those who love you, what reward can you expect?
Do not the very tax-collectors do that? And if you
are polite to your brothers and no one else, what is
there remarkable in that? Do not the very heathen
do that? So you are to be perfect, as your heavenly
Father ir
★ But taKe care not to do your good deeds in public
for people to see, for, if you do, you will get no
reward from your Father in heaven. So when you
are going to give to charity, do not blow a trumpet
before yourself, as the hypocrites do, in places of
worship and the streets, to make people praise them.
I tell you, that is all the reward they will get! But
when you give to charity, yOur own left hand must
not know what your right hand is doing, so that your
charity may be secret, and your Father who sees what
is secret will reward you.
★ When you pray, you must not be like the hypo
crites, for they like to pray standing in places of wor
ship and in the corners of the squares, to let people
see them. I tell you, that is the only reward they will
get! But when you pray, go into your own room, and
shut the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen,
and your Father who sees what is secret will reward
you. And when you pray, do not repeat empty
phrases as the heathen do, for they imagine that
their prayers will be heard if they use words enough.
"You must not be like them. For God, who is your
Father, knows what you need before you ask him
This, therefore, is the way you are to pray:
*Our Father in heaven, Your name be revered!
Your kingdom come!
Your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven!
Give us today bread for the day,
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our
debtors.
And do not subject us to temptation,
But save us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive others when they offend you, your
heavenly Father will forgive you too. But if you do
not forgive others when they offend you, your
heavenly Father will not forgive you for your
offenses
★ When you fast, do net put on a gloomy look,
like the. hypocrites, for they neglect their personal
appearance to let people see that they are fasting.
I tell you, that is all the reward, they will get. But
when you fast, perfume your hair and wash your
face, so that no one may see that you are fasting,
except your Father who is unseen, and your Father
who sees what is secret, will reward you.
★ Do not store up your riches on earth, where moths
and rust destroy them, and where thieves break in
and steal them, but store up your riches in heaven,
where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and
where thieves cannot break in and steal them. For
wherever your treasure is, your heart will be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is
sound, your whole body will be light, but if your
eye is unsound, your whole body will be dark. If,
therefore, your very light is darkness, how deep the
darkness will be! No slave can belong to two
masters, for he will either hate one and love the
other, or stand by one and make light of the other.
You cannot serve God and money. Therefore, I tell
you, do not worry about life, wondering what you
will have to eat or drink, or about your body, won
dering what you will have to wear. Is not life more
important than food, and the body than clothes?"
Look at the wild birds. They do not sow or reap,
or store their food in barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not of more account
than they? But which of you with all his worry can
add a single hour to his life? Why should you worry
about clothing? See how the wild flowers grow.
They do not toil or spin, and yet I tell you, even
Solomon in all his splendor was never dressed like
one of them. But if God so beautifully dresses the
wild grass, which is alive today and is thrown into
the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more surely
clothe you, you who have so little faith? So do not
worry and say, "What shall we have to eat?” or
"What shall we have to drink?” or "What shall we
have to wear?” For these are all things the heathen
are in pursuit of, and your heavenly Father knows
well that you need all this. But you must make his
kingdom, and uprightness before him, your greatest
care, and you will have all these other things besides.
So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
have worries of its own. Let each day be content
with its own ills.
★ Pass no more judgments upon other people, so
that you may not have judgment passed upon you.
For you will be judged by the standard you judge by,
and men will pay you back with the same measure
you have used with them. Why do you keep looking
at the speck in your brother’s eye, and pay no atten
tion to the beam that is in your own? How can you
say to your brother, "Just let me get that speck out
of your eye,” when all the time there is a beam in
your own? You hypocrite! First get the beam out of
your own eye, and then you can see to get the speck
out of your brother’s eye.
★ Do not give what is sacred to dogs, and do not
throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample
them under their feet and turn and tear you in pieces.
Ask, and what you ask will be given you. Search,
and you will find what you search for. Knock, and
the door will open to you. For it is always the one
who asks who receives, and the one who searches
who finds, and the one who knocks to whom the door
opens. Which of you men when his son asks him for
some bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for
a fish, will he give him a snake? So if you, bad as-you
are, know enough to give your children what is good,
how much more surely will your Father in heaven
give what is good to those who ask him for it! There
fore, you must always treat other people as you
would like to have them treat you, for this-sums up
the Law and the Prophets.
★ Go in at the narrow gate. For the road that leads
to destruction is broad and spacious, and there are
many who go in by it. But the gate is narrow and the
road is hard that leads to life, and there are few
that find it.
★ Beware of the false prophets, who come to you
disguised as sheep but are ravenous wolves under
neath. You can tell them by their fruit. Do people
pick grapes off thorns, or figs off thistles? Just so
any sound tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears
bad fruit. No sound tree can bear bad fruit, and no
poor tree can bear good fruit. Any tree that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and burned. So you can
tell them by their fruit. It is not everyone who says
to me "Lord! Lord! ” who will get into the Kingdom
of Heaven, but only those who do the will of my
Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that Day,
"Lord! Lord! Was it not in your name that we
prophesied, and by your name that we drove out
demons, and by your name that we did many mighty
acts?" Then I will say to them plainly, "I never knew
you! Go away from me, you who do wrong!”
★ Everyone, therefore, who listens to this teaching
of mine and acts upon it, will be like a sensible man
who built his house on rock. And the rain fell, and
the rivers rose, and the winds blew, and beat about
that house, and it did not go down, for its founda
tions were on rock. And anyone who listens to this
teaching of mine and does not act upon it, will be
like a foolish man who built his house on sand. And
the rain fell and the rivers rose, and the winds blew
and beat about that house, and it went down, and
its downfall was complete.
★ When Jesus had finished this discourse, the
crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught
them like one who had authority and not like
their scribes.
. (text: Matthew 5,6, 7)
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