American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Matthew 6
1
Take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Reference
2
Therefore when you do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Truly I say to you, They have their 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
4
That your alms may be in secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself shall reward you openly.
Reference
5
And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Truly I say to you, They have their 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
But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.
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
But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
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
8
Be not you therefore like to them: for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask him.
Reference
9
After this manner therefore pray you: Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be your name.
Reference
10
Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is 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
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For your is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
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
15
But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 18:35
16
Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.
Reference
18
That you appear not to men to fast, but to your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.
Reference
19
Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Reference
20
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Reference
22
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light.
Reference
23
But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!
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 man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
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
Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Reference
26
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?
Reference
28
And why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
Reference
29
And yet I say to you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30
Why, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
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
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
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
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
Reference
33
But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added 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.