Parallel Bible results for "matthew 6"

Matthew 6

MSG

NLT

1 "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding.
1 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.
2 "When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure - 'playactors' I call them - treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get.
2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.
3 When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks.
3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
4 Just do it - quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.
4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
5 "And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.
6 "Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
7 "The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God.
7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.
8 Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need.
8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!
9 With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are.
9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
10 Set the world right; Do what's best - as above, so below.
10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Keep us alive with three square meals.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
14 "In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others.
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
15 If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part.
15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
16 "When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint.
16 “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.
17 If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face.
17 But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face.
18 God doesn't require attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you are doing; he'll reward you well. A Life of God-Worship
18 Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
19 "Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! - stolen by burglars.
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars.
20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
21 It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
22 "Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light.
22 “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light.
23 If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
23 But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!
24 "You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.
24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
25 "If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body.
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?
27 "Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch?
27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 All this time and money wasted on fashion - do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop,
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,
29 but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.
30 "If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers - most of which are never even seen - don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?
30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving.
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
32 People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.
32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
33 Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.