Matthew 5:3-7:29

Riverside^{(i) 3} "Blessed are the poor in spirit! For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ "Blessed are they that mourn! For they will be comforted. ⁵ "Blessed are the gentle! For they will inherit the land. ⁶ "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness! For they will have abundance. ⁷ "Blessed are the compassionate! For they will receive compassion. ⁸ "Blessed are the pure in heart! For they will see God. ⁹ "Blessed are the peacemakers! For they will be called sons of God. ¹⁰ "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness! For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and say every evil thing against you falsely for my sake! ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. ¹³ "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt becomes flat, with what can it be salted? It is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. ¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city cannot be hidden if set on a hill. ¹⁵ People do not light a lamp and put it under a peck-measure, but on the stand, and it gives light for all in the house. ¹⁶ So let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. ¹⁷ "Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to fill them full. ¹⁸ I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or part of a letter will pass away from the Law, until all is done. ¹⁹ Whoever breaks one of these commandments, the least of them, and teaches men to do so, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever does them and teaches them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I say to you that, unless your righteousness far exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. ²¹ "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'Thou shalt not commit murder. Whoever commits murder shall answer for it to the court.' ²² But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall answer for it to the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'Raca' [empty-head], shall answer for it to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool' shall answer for it in the Gehenna of fire. ²³ So then if you are bringing your gift to lay on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ Get on good terms with your adversary quickly while you are on the road with him, for fear that he may deliver you to the judge and the judge may deliver you to the officer and you may be cast into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you you will not come out until you pay the last penny." ²⁷ "You have heard that it was said, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' ²⁸ But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman with lustful thoughts has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye is a snare to you, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is better for you that one of your members should be lost and not your whole body be cast into Gehenna. ³⁰ And if your right hand is a snare to you, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you that one of your members should be lost and not your whole body go into Gehenna. ³¹ "It was said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' ³² But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, unless for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. ³³ "Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'Thou shalt not swear falsely, but shalt perform to the Lord thine oaths.' ³⁴ But I tell you not to swear at all; neither by heaven, because it is God's throne; ³⁵ nor by the earth, because it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the Great King; ³⁶ nor must you swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your yes be yes and your no be no. Whatever is more than these is from evil. ³⁸ "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' ³⁹ But I tell you not to resist a wicked man, but if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him also the other; ⁴⁰ and if any one is determined to sue you for your tunic, let him have your cloak too; ⁴¹ and if any one commandeers you for a mile, go with him two. ⁴² To him who begs, give; from him who wishes to borrow of you, do not turn away. ⁴³ "You have heard that it was said, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy.' ⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun to rise upon the bad and the good, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not also the tax collectors do the same thing? ⁴⁷ And if you salute your brothers only, what superiority have you? Do not the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸ You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. ^{6 1} "BE careful not to do your religious actions before men in order to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give gifts of mercy, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, in order that they may be honored by men. I assure you they get their payment in full. ³ But you, when you are giving a gift of mercy, must not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your gift may be in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you. ⁵ "When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so as to be seen by men. I assure you they get their payment in full. ⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your inner room and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. ⁷ "When praying do not keep repeating, as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their multitude of words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you have need of before you ask him. ⁹ Pray in this way: 'Our Father in heaven, Thy name be kept holy; ¹⁰ Thy kingdom come; Thy will prevail; As in heaven, so on earth. ¹¹ Our bread for the coming day Give us to-day; ¹² And forgive us our failures As we forgive those who fail toward us; ¹³ And bring us not into trial, But save us from evil.' ¹⁴ For if you forgive men their wrongdoings, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; ¹⁵ but if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your wrongdoings. ¹⁶ "When you fast, do not wear gloomy faces as hypocrites do. For they disfigure their faces so as to be seen by men to be fasting. I assure you they get their payment in full. ¹⁷ But you, when fasting, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so as not to appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. ¹⁹ "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust corrode and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrodes and where thieves do not break in nor steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is there will your heart be also. ²² "The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is clear your whole body will be lighted up, ²³ but if your eye is bad your whole body will be darkened. If the light that is in you is darkness, how great the darkness is! ²⁴ No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate one and love the other or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. ²⁵ "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your physical life — what you are to eat or what you are to drink; nor about your body — what you are to wear. Is not the life more than the food and the body more than the clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ But who of you by being anxious can add to his height one foot? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, bow they grow. They neither toil nor spin. ²⁹ But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ If God so clothes the herbage of the field, to-day growing and to-morrow thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of so little faith? ³¹ So do not be anxious, saying, What are we to eat? or, What are we to drink? or, What are we to wear? ³² For all these things the pagans seek after. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But you must seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be supplied to you. ³⁴ Do not be anxious about to-morrow, for to-morrow will take care of itself. Enough for the day is its own trouble. ^{7 1} "DO not judge, so that you may not be judged. ² For with whatever judgment you judge you will be judged, and with whatever measure you measure you will be measured. ³ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, while you do not perceive the beam in your own eye? ⁴ Or how will you say to your brother, 'Let me get out the speck from your eye,' when there is a beam in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first get the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to get the speck out of your brother's eye. ⁶ "Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor east your pearls before swine, for they may trample them under their feet and turn and tear you. ⁷ "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. ⁸ For every one who asks obtains, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door is opened. ⁹ Is there any man of you who if his son asks him for bread will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish will give him a serpent? ¹¹ If you, though evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. ¹² "All things that you wish men to do for you, do yourselves for them; for this is the Law and the Prophets. ¹³ "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide and spacious is the road that leads away to ruin, and many there are who go through it; ¹⁴ but narrow is the gate and contracted is the road that leads into life, and few there are who find it. ¹⁵ "Beware of false prophets, such as come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ From their fruits you will know them. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Just so every good tree yields fine fruit, but a worthless tree yields bad fruit. ¹⁸ It is not possible for a good tree to yield had fruit nor for a worthless tree to yield fine fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not yield fine fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ So then, from their fruits you will know them. ²¹ "Not every one who says to me, 'Master, Master,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, 'Master, Master, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name east out demons, and in your name do many miracles?' ²³ And then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work lawlessness.' ²⁴ "Every one, therefore, who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; ²⁵ and the rain descended and the rivers rose and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house; but it fell not, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. ²⁷ And the rain descended and the rivers rose and the winds blew, and they struck upon that house and it fell, and great was the ruin of it." ²⁸ When Jesus ended these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching. ²⁹ For he taught them like one who had authority, and not as their scribes taught.