Matthew 5:21-48 (New American Standard)

Personal Relationships

21 "¹You have heard that ^athe ancients were told, '²YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER ' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be ^bliable to ³the court.' 22 "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be ^cguilty before ⁴the court ; and whoever says to his brother, '^dYou good-for-nothing,' shall be ^eguilty before ^f5the supreme court ; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be ^gguilty enough to go into the ^h6fiery hell. 23 "Therefore if you are ⁷presenting your ⁱoffering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your ^joffering there before the altar and go ; first be ⁸reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your ^koffering. 25 "⁹Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 "Truly I say to you, ¹⁰you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last ^lcent. 27 "¹¹You have heard that it was said, '¹²YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY '; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman ¹³with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 "¹⁴If your right eye makes you ^mstumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you ⁿto lose one of the parts of your body, ^othan for your whole body to be thrown into ^p15hell. 30 "¹⁶If your right hand makes you ^qstumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you ^rto lose one of the parts of your body, ^sthan for your whole body to go into ^t17hell. 31 "It was said, '¹⁸WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE '; 32 ¹⁹but I say to you that everyone who ^udivorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery ; and whoever marries a ^vdivorced woman commits adultery. 33 "Again, ²⁰you have heard that ^wthe ancients were told, '^x21YOU SHALL NOT ^yMAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR ^zVOWS TO THE LORD.' 34 "But I say to you, ²²make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is ²³the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the ²⁴footstool of His feet, or ^aaby Jerusalem, for it is ²⁵THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. 36 "Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes ' or 'No, no '; anything beyond these is ^bbof ²⁶evil. 38 "²⁷You have heard that it was said, '²⁸AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' 39 "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but ²⁹whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 "If anyone wants to sue you and take your ^ccshirt, let him have your ^ddcoat also. 41 "Whoever ^eeforces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 "³⁰Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. 43 "³¹You have heard that it was said, '³²YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR ³³and hate your enemy.' 44 "But I say to you, ³⁴love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may ^ffbe ³⁵sons of your Father who is in heaven ; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 "For ³⁶if you love those who love you, what reward do you have ? Do not even the tax collectors do the same ? 47 "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same ? 48 "Therefore ^gg37you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.