New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Matthew 6
1
"Be careful not to do 'good works' in front of others. Don't do them to be seen by others. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you.
Reference
2
"When you give to needy people, do not announce it by having trumpets blown. Do not be like those who only pretend to be holy. They announce what they do in the synagogues and on the streets. They want to be honored by others. What I'm about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward.
Reference
Glory
John 7:18
1 Peter 4:11
Parallel theme
Matthew 6:5
Matthew 6:16
John 5:41
Hebrews 13:16
Luke 20:46
Psalm 37:21
Ephesians 4:28
Hosea 8:1
3
"When you give to the needy, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
Reference
4
Then your giving will be done secretly. Your Father will reward you. He sees what you do secretly.
Reference
5
"When you pray, do not be like those who only pretend to be holy. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners. They want to be seen by others. What I'm about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward.
Reference
Love
Luke 11:43
Parallel theme
Matthew 6:2
Luke 18:13
James 4:6
Prayer
Mark 11:25
Isaiah 1:15
Jeremiah 29:12
Luke 20:47
Luke 18:1
Ephesians 6:18
6
"When you pray, go into your room. Close the door and pray to your Father, who can't be seen. He will reward you. Your Father sees what is done secretly.
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 65:24
Psalm 34:15
Isaiah 26:20
Matthew 6:18
Matthew 6:4
Ephesians 3:14
Prayer
2 Kings 4:33
Matthew 14:23
Acts 9:40
Acts 10:9
7
"When you pray, do not keep talking on and on the way ungodly people do. They think they will be heard because they talk a lot.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ecclesiastes 5:7
Acts 19:34
Matthew 6:32
Matthew 18:17
Prayer
Matthew 26:44
Matthew 26:42
Matthew 26:39
10
May your kingdom come. May what you want to happen be done on earth as it is done in heaven.
Reference
Kingdom
Matthew 7:21
Parallel theme
Hebrews 10:36
Matthew 12:50
Matthew 26:42
John 4:34
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Romans 12:2
John 6:40
Colossians 1:9
Ephesians 6:6
13
Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted. Save us from the evil one.'
Reference
Evil
John 17:15
2 Thessalonians 3:3
Jeremiah 15:21
Glory
Revelation 19:1
Kingdom
Matthew 6:10
Psalm 47:7
1 Chronicles 29:11
Parallel theme
1 Corinthians 10:13
Matthew 26:41
2 Peter 2:9
14
"Forgive people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you.
Reference
15
But if you do not forgive people their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 18:35
16
"When you go without eating, do not look gloomy like those who only pretend to be holy. They make their faces very sad. They want to show people they are fasting. What I'm about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward.
Reference
18
Then others will not know that you are fasting. Only your Father, who can't be seen, will know it. He will reward you. Your Father sees what is done secretly.
Reference
19
"Do not put away riches for yourselves on earth. Moths and rust can destroy them. Thieves can break in and steal them.
Reference
20
Instead, put away riches for yourselves in heaven. There, moths and rust do not destroy them. There, thieves do not break in and steal them.
Reference
22
"The eye is like a lamp for the body. Suppose your eyes are good. Then your whole body will be full of light.
Reference
23
But suppose your eyes are bad. Then your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light inside you is darkness, then it is very dark!
Reference
Darkness
1 John 2:11
Ephesians 4:18
Evil
Jeremiah 4:22
Light
Matthew 6:22
Isaiah 8:20
Ephesians 5:8
Parallel theme
Proverbs 26:12
Romans 1:22
1 Corinthians 2:14
Luke 8:10
24
"No one can serve two masters at the same time. He will hate one of them and love the other. Or he will be faithful to one and dislike the other. You can't serve God and Money at the same time.
Reference
Love
Luke 16:13
Parallel theme
Luke 16:11
Luke 16:9
References God
James 4:4
Galatians 1:10
Joshua 24:15
Matthew 4:10
1 Kings 18:21
1 Timothy 6:17
1 Samuel 7:3
25
"I tell you, do not worry. Don't worry about your life and what you will eat or drink. And don't worry about your body and what you will wear. Isn't there more to life than eating? Aren't there more important things for the body than clothes?
Reference
26
"Look at the birds of the air. They don't plant or gather crops. They don't put away crops in storerooms. But your Father who is in heaven feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than they are?
Reference
28
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the wild flowers grow. They don't work or make clothing.
Reference
29
But here is what I tell you. Not even Solomon in all of his glory was dressed like one of those flowers.
30
"If that is how God dresses the wild grass, won't he dress you even better? After all, the grass is here only today. Tomorrow it is thrown into the fire. Your faith is so small!
Reference
Faith
Matthew 14:31
Luke 12:28
Matthew 16:8
Matthew 8:26
John 20:27
Mark 4:40
Parallel theme
1 Peter 1:24
References God
Hebrews 3:12
31
"So don't worry. Don't say, 'What will we eat?' Or, 'What will we drink?' Or, 'What will we wear?'
Reference
Parallel theme
1 Peter 5:7
Luke 12:29
Matthew 4:4
Psalm 55:22
Psalm 37:3
Matthew 15:33
2 Chronicles 25:9
32
People who are ungodly run after all of those things. Your Father who is in heaven knows that you need them.
Reference
33
"But put God's kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all of those things will also be given to you.
Reference
Kingdom
Luke 12:31
Parallel theme
Psalm 37:3
Matthew 19:29
References God
John 6:27
Romans 8:31
1 Timothy 4:8
Righteousness
Matthew 5:6
Romans 14:17
Psalm 37:25
2 Corinthians 5:21
Summary of Matthew 6
Matthew 6 continues the Sermon on the Mount by moving from Jesus' teaching about outward behavior into the deeper question of motivation, showing that giving, prayer, fasting, possessions, and everyday concerns must all be directed toward God rather than toward public recognition or personal security.
Jesus begins by addressing three important expressions of religious devotion in 1st-century Jewish life—giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting—and repeatedly warns His disciples against turning these practices into public performances designed to gain admiration from other people.
Instead, Jesus teaches that genuine devotion can remain hidden because God sees what is done in secret, making God's approval more important than human applause and placing the condition of the heart above outward religious appearance.
The center of the prayer Jesus gives His disciples is the desire that God's name be honored, His kingdom come, and His will be done, followed by requests for daily provision, forgiveness, and protection, creating a pattern in which God's purposes come before personal needs while personal needs are nevertheless brought honestly before Him.
The teaching about forgiveness is especially direct, because Jesus connects receiving God's forgiveness with the willingness to forgive others, demonstrating that divine mercy should produce a corresponding attitude of mercy within the lives of His followers.
Jesus then turns toward wealth and material security, warning His disciples not to build their ultimate security around earthly possessions that can be destroyed by decay, insects, or theft, but instead to invest their lives in treasures that endure before God.
His statement that where a person's treasure is, there the heart will also be reveals that possessions are not merely financial matters but indicators of what a person ultimately values, trusts, and desires.
Jesus then presents the choice between God and money as competing masters, emphasizing that genuine kingdom living requires undivided loyalty rather than attempting to give God first place while allowing wealth to control one's priorities.
The final section addresses anxiety about food, drink, clothing, and tomorrow, with Jesus directing His listeners toward birds, flowers, grass, and God's continuing care for creation as evidence that the heavenly Father knows and cares about the needs of His people.
The reference to Solomon, whose reign is traditionally placed in the 10th century BC, contrasts the greatest royal wealth of Israel's past with the beauty God provides freely to ordinary creation, emphasizing that God's provision does not depend upon human wealth or status.
Jesus concludes with the central command to seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, promising that necessary earthly needs should be entrusted to God rather than becoming the controlling focus of life.
The central message is that Matthew 6 calls God's people to practice generosity, prayer, fasting, forgiveness, financial stewardship, and daily trust with sincere hearts, seeking God's approval rather than human applause and God's kingdom rather than material security.
The chapter ultimately teaches that the deepest cure for religious hypocrisy and anxious living is a properly ordered heart, because when God becomes the primary treasure, master, and priority of a person's life, giving becomes generous, prayer becomes sincere, fasting becomes humble, forgiveness becomes possible, possessions lose their controlling power, and tomorrow no longer needs to be feared.
Jesus begins by addressing three important expressions of religious devotion in 1st-century Jewish life—giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting—and repeatedly warns His disciples against turning these practices into public performances designed to gain admiration from other people.
Instead, Jesus teaches that genuine devotion can remain hidden because God sees what is done in secret, making God's approval more important than human applause and placing the condition of the heart above outward religious appearance.
The center of the prayer Jesus gives His disciples is the desire that God's name be honored, His kingdom come, and His will be done, followed by requests for daily provision, forgiveness, and protection, creating a pattern in which God's purposes come before personal needs while personal needs are nevertheless brought honestly before Him.
The teaching about forgiveness is especially direct, because Jesus connects receiving God's forgiveness with the willingness to forgive others, demonstrating that divine mercy should produce a corresponding attitude of mercy within the lives of His followers.
Jesus then turns toward wealth and material security, warning His disciples not to build their ultimate security around earthly possessions that can be destroyed by decay, insects, or theft, but instead to invest their lives in treasures that endure before God.
His statement that where a person's treasure is, there the heart will also be reveals that possessions are not merely financial matters but indicators of what a person ultimately values, trusts, and desires.
Jesus then presents the choice between God and money as competing masters, emphasizing that genuine kingdom living requires undivided loyalty rather than attempting to give God first place while allowing wealth to control one's priorities.
The final section addresses anxiety about food, drink, clothing, and tomorrow, with Jesus directing His listeners toward birds, flowers, grass, and God's continuing care for creation as evidence that the heavenly Father knows and cares about the needs of His people.
The reference to Solomon, whose reign is traditionally placed in the 10th century BC, contrasts the greatest royal wealth of Israel's past with the beauty God provides freely to ordinary creation, emphasizing that God's provision does not depend upon human wealth or status.
Jesus concludes with the central command to seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, promising that necessary earthly needs should be entrusted to God rather than becoming the controlling focus of life.
The central message is that Matthew 6 calls God's people to practice generosity, prayer, fasting, forgiveness, financial stewardship, and daily trust with sincere hearts, seeking God's approval rather than human applause and God's kingdom rather than material security.
The chapter ultimately teaches that the deepest cure for religious hypocrisy and anxious living is a properly ordered heart, because when God becomes the primary treasure, master, and priority of a person's life, giving becomes generous, prayer becomes sincere, fasting becomes humble, forgiveness becomes possible, possessions lose their controlling power, and tomorrow no longer needs to be feared.