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.