Matthew 5

Jesus teaches his disciples

1 Jesus saw that crowds of people were following him. So he went up a hill and he sat down there to teach them. His disciples came near to listen to him. 2 He began to teach them. This is what he said:

3 ‘Happy are the people who know that they need God very much.

The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like that.

4 Happy are the people who are sad now.

God will come near to help them.

5 Happy are the people who are kind.

The whole earth will belong to them.

6 Happy are the people who want to obey God, as much as they need to eat food.

God will give them everything that they need.

7 Happy are the people who are kind and who forgive other people.

God will forgive people like that.

8 Happy are the people who have pure thoughts.

They will come near to God and see him.

9 Happy are the people who help people to live in peace.

God will call them his children.

10 Happy are the people who do what is right but other people hurt them because of it.

The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like that.

11 Yes, happy are you when people insult you because you believe in me. Or they may hurt you. Or they may say things about you that are not true. 12 God is preparing many good things for you in heaven. So you should be very happy when people do these bad things to any of you. People did these same bad things to God's prophets who lived long ago.’

Jesus' disciples are like salt and light

13 Jesus said, ‘You are like salt for all people. Salt is good. But if it is not salty any more, you cannot make it salty again. People can no longer use it for anything. They just throw it away and they walk on it.

14 You are like a light for everybody in this world. If people build a city on a hill, then other people can see it easily. 15 Nobody lights a lamp and then puts it under a pot. He will put the lamp in a high place. Everybody who is in the house can then see the light from the lamp. 16 You must be sure that your light shines well. Then you will give light to other people. They will see all the good things that you do. Then they will praise God, who is your Father in heaven.’

Jesus talks about God's Law

17 Jesus said, ‘You should not think that I have come to destroy God's Law. Also, I have not come to destroy the messages that God's prophets spoke. No, I have not come to destroy their words. I have come to make what they taught become true. 18 I tell you this. One day, even the earth and the sky will finish. But while they remain, God's Law will also remain. Nobody can remove even the smallest thing from it. The Law will remain until everything in it has happened.

19 A person may choose not to obey a rule in God's Law. He may think it is the least important rule. He may also teach other people to think like that. Then God will call him the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But a person may choose to obey all the rules in God's Law. And he may teach other people to obey them too. God will call that person great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 I tell you this. You must always do what is right. You must live in a way that is better than the teachers of God's Law and the Pharisees. You will never come into the kingdom of heaven if you do not do better than them.’

Jesus teaches about anger

21 Jesus then said, ‘You know the commands that God gave to your ancestors: “You must not murder anyone. Anyone who does murder will stand in front of a judge. The judge will punish him because he has done a wrong thing.” 22 But what I now say to you is this. Anybody who is angry with his brother will have to stand in front of a judge. If someone calls his brother by a bad name, he will have to stand in front of the Jewish leaders. They will judge him. But if someone says to his brother, “You are a useless fool,” that person deserves punishment in the fires of hell.

23 Maybe you go to the temple to give your gift to God. You take it to the altar. But then you remember that your brother is angry with you. 24 You must leave your gift there in front of God's altar. First you must go and find your brother. Tell him that you are sorry. Then you can both become friends with each other again. After that, you can return to the altar and give your gift to God.

25 Also, somebody may say that you have done something wrong against him. He may take you to stand in front of the judge. You should quickly try to agree with this person. Decide with him how to make things right again. Do this even while you are going with him to the judge. If you do not do that, the judge may agree that you have done a wrong thing. Then he will give you to his officer. His officer will put you in prison. 26 I tell you this. You will remain in prison until you have paid all the money, even the last small coin.’

Jesus teaches about bad thoughts

27 Jesus then said, ‘You know what God's command says: “You must not have sex with anyone who is not your husband or your wife.” 28 But what I tell you is this: A man may look at a woman who is not his wife. And he may want to have sex with her. In his thoughts he has had sex with her, so he has done a wrong thing. 29 If your right eye causes you to do wrong things, then you should take it out. You should throw it away. Yes, you will lose one eye. But it will be much worse if you keep your whole body and God throws you into hell. 30 Also, if your right hand causes you to do wrong things, then you should cut it off. You should throw it away. You will lose one hand. But it will be much worse if you keep your body in one piece and go to hell.’

Jesus teaches about marriage

31 ‘ God's Law also says: “Any man who wants to send his wife away must give her a letter. This letter must say that they are no longer married.” 32 But what I tell you is this: A man must not send his wife away except for one reason. He may only send her away if she has had sex with another man. If he sends her away for any other reason, he has done a wrong thing. He has caused her to have sex with another man, who is not her husband. Also, if a woman has left her husband, another man must not marry her. That is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife.’

Jesus teaches about promises to God

33 ‘You also know the rule that God gave to your ancestors: “If you make a promise to the Lord God, you must do what you have said.” 34 But what I tell you is this. Do not use any name to make a promise stronger. Do not use the words “by heaven” to make a promise stronger. Heaven is the throne where God sits to rule. Do not use the words “by the earth” to make a promise stronger. The earth is the place where God rests his feet. 35 Do not use the words “by Jerusalem” to make a promise stronger. Jerusalem is God's city. He is the great King who rules from there. 36 Do not use the words “by my head” to make a promise. You cannot make the colour of even one of your hairs black or white. 37 Instead, when you make a promise, you should say only “Yes, I will do it.” Or you should say only “No, I will not do it.” If you say anything more than this, it comes from Satan.’

Jesus teaches how to love all people

38 Jesus then said, ‘You also know that God's Law says: “If somebody destroys your eye, then you should destroy that person's eye. If somebody destroys your tooth, then you should destroy that person's tooth.” 39 But what I tell you is this. If somebody does something bad to you, do not do anything against him. Somebody may hit you on one side of your face. Then you should also let him hit the other side of your face.

40 Maybe somebody wants to take you to the judge. He says that you should give him your shirt. Give the man your shirt, and give him your coat too. 41 Or a soldier may tell you, “Carry my luggage for one kilometre.” You should do that. Even agree to carry it for two kilometres. 42 When people ask you for something, you should give it to them. If they ask you to lend them something, then you should not refuse.

43 You have heard people say, “Love the people who are your friends. But hate those people who want to hurt you.” 44 What I tell you is this: You should love the people who want to hurt you. If people cause you to have trouble, pray that God would help them. 45 If you live like this, you will show that you really are children of your Father above. God is kind to everyone. He causes the sun to shine on everyone, both good people and bad people. He also causes the rain to fall on everyone, people who obey him and people who do not obey him. 46 Do you only love people who love you? God will not give you good things just for doing that. Even the men who take taxes love their friends!

47 If you are only kind to your friends, then you are not doing anything special. Even people who do not believe in God do that. 48 So you must be good in every way, as your Father above is good in every way.’

Matthew 6

Jesus teaches how to help poor people

1 Jesus then said to them, ‘You should do good things to help people. But be careful! Do not do this so that other people see you. If you want other people to praise you, your Father in heaven will not praise you.

2 When you give something to a poor person, do not tell anyone about it. The hypocrites do this in their meeting places. They also do it in the busy streets of the town. They do this so that other people will praise them. I tell you this. They have already received their gift. God will not give them anything more.

3 So when you give something to a poor person, keep it a secret from other people. Do not tell anyone. Your left hand will not even know what your right hand does! 4 Nobody else will know about the good thing that you have done. But God sees the things that you do secretly. In return, he will give you good things.’

Jesus teaches about prayer

5 ‘Also, you must not pray in the way that the hypocrites pray. They like to stand and pray in their meeting places. They like to do it on the corners of the busy streets. Then many people will see them and they will praise them. I tell you this. They have already received their gift from people. God will not give them anything more.

6 But this is how you should pray. Go to a place in your house where you can be alone. You can shut the door and you can pray to God your Father. He is in that secret place. He sees what you do there. In return, he will give you good things. 7 When you pray, do not say the same words many times. People who do not believe in God do that. They use many words that mean nothing. They think that when they pray like that, their gods will hear them. 8 Do not pray like they do. God your Father already knows what you need. He knows this even before you ask him.

9 So this is how you should pray:

“God, our Father who is in heaven,

we want people to give honour to you.

10 We want the day when you rule everyone to come soon.

We want everyone to obey you on earth,

as everyone in heaven obeys you.

11 Please give us the food that we need today.

12 We have forgiven people who have done wrong things to us.

In the same way, please forgive us for the wrong things that we have done.

13 Do not let us agree to do wrong things.

Keep us safe from Satan, the evil one.” ’

14 Then Jesus said, ‘When other people do wrong things against you, you must forgive them. Then God, your Father in heaven, will also forgive you for the wrong things that you have done. 15 But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive you.’

Jesus teaches how to fast

16 Jesus then said, ‘You may decide to fast for some time. But do not look sad so that people know you are doing a special thing. Hypocrites want people to see how good they are. They make their faces dirty. Then other people can see that they are fasting. I tell you this: people have praised them and that is the only gift that they will get. 17 But when you fast for some time, you should wash your face. Make your hair look nice. 18 Then other people will not know that you are doing a special thing. But God, your Father, will know. You do not see him but he sees what you do secretly. In return, he will give you good things.

Jesus teaches about valuable things in heaven

19 Do not want to have many valuable things here in the world. Insects or water can destroy those kinds of things. Or people may come into your house and they can rob you of those things. 20 Instead, you should want to have valuable things in heaven. Insects and water cannot destroy anything there. Men cannot rob you of your things there. 21 Then you will be thinking a lot about heaven, because that is where you keep your valuable things.

22 Your eyes are like lamps and your body is like a room. Make sure that your eyes are like a clean lamp, then your whole body will have light. 23 If your eyes are not good, then your whole body will be in the dark. If the light in you has become dark, you will be living in a very dark place.’

24 Jesus said, ‘Nobody can work as a slave for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other master. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.

God takes care of his people

25 So I tell you this. You should not worry about how to stay alive. Do not worry about the food and drink that you need. Do not worry about the clothes that you need to wear. Your life is more important than the food that you eat. Your body is more important than your clothes. 26 Think about the wild birds. They do not plant seeds in the ground. They do not cut down plants to eat. They have no buildings to store food. But God, your Father in heaven, gives them food to eat. You are much more valuable than the birds. 27 Even if you always worry about your life, you cannot make it as much as one hour longer!

28 You should not worry about your clothes. Think about how the wild flowers grow. They do not work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you this. Even one wild flower is more beautiful than King Solomon was. And King Solomon wore the most beautiful clothes. 30 It is God that gives beautiful clothes even to the grass. One day the grass is growing in the field, but the next day people will cut it and burn it. God will certainly take care of you, much more than he takes care of the grass. You should trust him more than you do!

31 So do not worry about these things. Do not always say, “What will we eat?”, or “What will we drink?”, or “What will we wear?” 32 People who do not know God are always trying to get these things. But as for you, your Father in heaven knows that you need them. 33 Instead, always think about the things that are important in the kingdom of heaven. Always do what God shows you is right. Then he will also give you the things that you need each day. 34 So do not worry about what might happen tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own problems. It is enough for you to be thinking each day about the problems of that day.’

Matthew 7

Jesus warns people not to judge others

1 Jesus then said, ‘Do not judge anyone, to say that they are a bad person. If you do that, God will judge you in the same way. 2 God will think about you in the same way that you think about other people. He will use the same rules for you as you use for other people.

3 Perhaps you want to tell your friend about his little mistake. If you want to do that, first remember your own bigger mistakes. 4 You are like a person who has a big piece of wood in his eye. But then he says to his friend, “Let me take that little piece of dirt out of your eye for you.” 5 Do not be like that person. You think that you are better than your friend. But you are not. First, you must take the big piece of wood out of your own eye. After that, your eyes will see clearly. Then you can take the small piece of dirt out of your friend's eye.

6 Do not give holy things that are for God to dogs. The dogs will turn round and attack you. Do not throw valuable things to pigs. The pigs will only stand on them and bury them in the dirt.’

God gives good things to his children

7 Jesus said, ‘Go on asking God for what you need. Then God will give it to you. Go on looking for what you need. Then you will find it. Go on knocking at the door, and God will open it for you. 8 Everyone who asks for something will receive it. Everyone who looks for something will find it. God will open the door for everyone who knocks on it.

9 Some of you are fathers. If your son asks you for some bread, you would not give him a stone. 10 If he asks you for a fish, you would not give him a snake. 11 You may be bad, but even you know how to give good things to your children. Your Father in heaven knows much better than you do how to give good things to his children. He will give good things to everyone who asks him. 12 So do the good things for other people that you would want them to do for you. That is true in everything you do. That is what God's Law and the messages of God's prophets teach us.’

The way to true life is like a narrow road

13 ‘Go in through the narrow gate to get true life with God. There is a wide gate that is easy to go through. The wide path is easy to travel on. Many people find that wide gate, but it is the way that goes to God's final punishment. 14 It is difficult to go through the small gate. And it is difficult to walk on the narrow road. But when you do go that way, you will get true life. Not many people find that narrow gate.’

Jesus tells a story about a tree and its fruit

15 ‘Some people say that they are prophets from God. But their words are false. They seem to be like sheep that are not dangerous. But they are really like hungry wild dogs. What they teach will hurt you.

16 You will know these people by the way that they live. The things that they do are like their fruit. Grapes do not grow on thorn bushes. Figs do not grow on weeds. 17 Good fruit grows on a tree that is good. Bad fruit grows on a tree that is not good. 18 A good tree cannot make bad fruit. A bad tree cannot make good fruit. 19 A farmer will cut down any tree that does not make good fruit. He will burn it on a fire. 20 In the same way, look at the way people live. Then you will know what they are really like.

True disciples and false disciples

21 Some people say to me, “Master, Master!” But not all of them will come into the kingdom of heaven. Only the people who obey God, my Father in heaven, will come in. They do what he wants them to do. 22 On the day when God judges people, many of them will say, “Master, Master! We used your authority and we spoke a message from you. We used your authority and we sent bad spirits out of people. We used your authority to do many powerful things.” 23 But I will say to these people, “I never knew you. You are wicked people who do not obey God. So go away from me.” ’

Jesus tells a story about two men who each built a house

24 Jesus then said, ‘Some people listen to my message and they obey it. Those people are like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 Then a storm came with a lot of rain and wind. The rivers rose up high. Strong winds blew hard against that house. But the house did not fall down because the man had built it on rock. 26 Other people listen to my message but they do not obey it. Those people are like a fool who built his house on sand. 27 Then a storm came with a lot of rain and wind. The rivers rose up high. Strong winds blew hard against the house. That house fell down. The storm destroyed it completely.’

28 Jesus finished speaking. The crowds of people were very surprised at the things that he taught them. 29 When Jesus taught them, he showed that he had authority. That was not like the way that the teachers of God's Law taught people.