Matthew 6:16-26

Fasting; The True Treasure; Wealth (Mammon)

16 "¹Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. ²Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

17 "But you, when you fast, ³anoint your head and wash your face

18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your ⁴Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

19 "⁵Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

20 "But store up for yourselves ⁶treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;

21 for ⁷where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 "⁸The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

23 "But if ⁹your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24 "¹⁰No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot * serve God and ¹¹wealth.

The Cure for Anxiety

25 "¹²For this reason I say to you, do not be ¹³worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

26 "¹⁴Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

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Lent

Images for Matthew 6:16-26

Cross References 14

1. Isaiah 58:5
2. Matthew 6:2
3. Ruth 3:3; 2 Samuel 12:20
4. Matthew 6:4, 6
5. Proverbs 23:4; Matthew 19:21; Luke 12:21, 33; Luke 18:22; 1 Timothy 6:9, 10; Hebrews 13:5; James 5:2
6. Matthew 19:21; Luke 12:33; 1 Timothy 6:19
7. Luke 12:34
8. Matthew 6:22, 23: {Luke 11:34, 35}
9. Matthew 20:15; Mark 7:22
10. 1 Kings 18:21; Luke 16:13; Galatians 1:10; James 4:4
11. Luke 16:9, 11, 13
12. Matthew 6:25-33: {Luke 12:22-31}
13. Matt 6:27, 28, 31, 34; Luke 10:41; Luke 12:11, 22; Philippians 4:6; 1 Peter 5:7
14. Job 35:11; Job 38:41; Psalms 104:27, 28; Matthew 10:29f; Luke 12:24

Footnotes 7

[a]. Lit "distort their faces", i.e. discolor their faces with makeup
[b]. Or "healthy;" or "sincere"
[c]. Or "evil"
[d]. Gr "mamonas," for Aram "mamon" (mammon); i.e. wealth, etc., personified as an object of worship
[e]. Or "stop being worried"
[f]. Lit "soul"
[g]. Lit "heaven"