Matthew 6

Matthew · Chapter 6

Matthew 6:31

1Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.2Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.3But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.11Give us this day our daily bread.12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.14For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.16Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.17But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;18That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Greek words

EnglishGreekSay itStrong'sMeaning
NotμὴmēG3361
not

μή (mē) μή, subjective negative particle, used where the negation depends on a condition or hypothesis, expressed or understood, as distinct from οὐ, which denies absolutely. μή is used where one thinks a thing is not, as distinct from an absolute negation. As a general rule, οὐ negatives the indic, μή the other moods, incl, ptcp. [In LXX for אֵין ,אַיִן ,אַל ] I. As a neg. adv., not; 1. with ref. to thought or opinion: Jhn.3:18, Tit.1:11, 2Pe.1:9. 2. In delib. questions, with subjc. (M, Pr., 185): Mrk.12:14, Rom.3:8. …

thereforeοὖνounG3767
therefore/then

οὖν (oun) οὖν, particle expressing consequence or simple sequence (never standing first in a sentence), wherefore, therefore, then: Mat.3:10, Luk.3:9, Jhn.8:38, Act.1:21, Rom.5:9, al.; in exhortations, Mat.3:8, Luk.11:35, Act.3:19, Rom.6:12, al.; in questions, Mat.13:28, Mrk.15:12, Jhn.8:[5], Rom.6:1, al.; continuing a narrative or resuming it after a digression, Mat.1:17, Luk.3:18, Jhn.1:22 2:18 (and very frequently in this Gospel), Act.26:22, al.; ἄρα οὖν (see: ἄρα); ἐπεὶ οὖν, Heb.2:14; οὖν with ptcp. (= ἐπεὶ οὖν), Act.2:30, Rom.5:1, al.; ἐὰν οὖν (where οὖν rather in sense belongs to the apodosis), …

shall you be anxiousμεριμνήσητεmerimnēsēteG3309
to worry

μεριμνάω (merimnaō) μεριμνάω, -ῶ (μέριμνα), [in LXX: Psa.38:18 (דָּאַג), etc. ;] 1. to be anxious: absol., Mat.6:27, 31, Luk.12:25; μηδὲν μ., Php.4:6; with dative of thing(s), Mat.6:25, Luk.12:22; before περί, Mat.6:28, Luk.10:41 12:26; πῶς, Mat.10:19, Luk.12:11; εἰς τὴν αὔριον, Mat.6:34. 2. to care for: with accusative, τὰ τ. κυριου, 1Co.7:32-34; τὰ τ. κόσμου, 1Co.7:34; τὰ περί ὑμῶν, Php.2:20; before ὑπέρ, 1Co.12:25; with genitive (a construction otherwise unknown), ἑαυτῆς (WH; τὰ ἑ. Rec.; see Bl., § 35, 7), Mat.6:34 (cf. προ-μεριμνάω).† (AS)

saying;λέγοντες·legontesG3004G
to say

λέγω (legō) λέγω, [in LXX very freq., chiefly for אמר; λέγει for נְאֻם, Gen.22:16, al. ;] 1. in Hom., to pick out, gather, reckon, recount. 2. In Hdt. and Att., to say, speak, affirm, declare: absol., Act.13:15, 24:10; before orat. dir., Mat.9:34, Mrk.3:11, Jhn.1:29, al.; before ὅτι recit., Mrk.3:21, Luk.1:24, Jhn.6:14, al.; accusative and inf., Luk.11:18, Jhn.12:29, al.; after another verb of speaking, προσφωνεῖν κ. λέγειν, Mat.11:17, al.; ἀπεκρίθη (ἐλάλησεν) λέγων (καὶ λέγει; Dalman, Words, 24 ff.), Mat.25:9, Mrk.3:33, 7:28, Luk.24:6, 7, al.; of unspoken thought, λ. ἐν ἑαυτῷ, Mat.3:9, Luk.3:8, al.; of …

WhatτίtiG5101
which?

τίς (tis) τίς, neut., τί, genitive, τίνος, interrog. pron., [in LXX for מָה ,מִי ;] in masc. and fem., who, which, what?; in neut., which, what?, used both in direct and in indirect questions. I. I. As subst., 1. 1. masc., fem.: τίς; who, what?, Mat.3:7 26:68; Mrk.11:28, Luk.9:9, al. mult.; with genitive partit., Act.7:52, Heb.1:5, al; before ἐκ (= genitive partit.), Mat.6:27, Luk.14:28, Jhn.8:46; = ποῖος, Mrk.4:41 6:2, Luk.19:3, Act.17:19, al.; = πότερος (M, Pr., 77), Mat.21:31 27:17, Luk.22:27, al.; = ὅς or ὅστις (rare in cl.; cf. Bl., §50, 5; M, Pr., 93), Act.13:25. …

shall we eatφάγωμενphagōmenG5315
to eat

φαγεῖν (phagein) φάγομαιHellenistic for cl. ἔδομαι, see: ἐσθίω. ἐσθίω, and (poet, and late prose) ἔσθω, [in LXX chiefly for אכל ;] to eat; (a) absol.: Mat.14:20, 21 Mrk.6:31, Jhn.4:31, al.; ἐν τ. φαγεῖν (on this aor. form, see M, Pr., 111), 1Co.11:21; διδόναι φαγεῖν, with dative of person(s), Mrk.5:43, al.; ἐ. καὶ πίνειν, Mat.6:25, 31 Luk.10:7, al.; of ordinary use of food and drink, 1Co.9:4 11:22; of partaking of food at table, Mrk.2:16, Luk.5:30, al.; opposite to fasting, Mat.11:18, Luk.5:33, al.; of revelling, Mat.24:49, Luk.12:45 . …

OrἢēG2228
or

ἤ (ē) ἤ, disjunctive and comparative particle (Bl., §36, 12; 77, 11); 1. disjunctive, or; (a) between single words: Mat.5:17 Mrk.6:56, Luk.2:24, Jhn.6:19, Rom.1:21, al.; (b) before a sentence expressing a variation, denial or refutation of a previous statement, frequently in interrog. form: Mat.7:4, 9 Mrk.12:14, Luk.13:4, Rom.3:29 6:3 9:21, 1Co.6:9, 16 9:6, 2Co.11:7; ἤ . . . ἤ, either . . . or, Mat.6:24, Luk.16:13, 1Co.14:6; …

whatτίtiG5101
which?

τίς (tis) τίς, neut., τί, genitive, τίνος, interrog. pron., [in LXX for מָה ,מִי ;] in masc. and fem., who, which, what?; in neut., which, what?, used both in direct and in indirect questions. I. I. As subst., 1. 1. masc., fem.: τίς; who, what?, Mat.3:7 26:68; Mrk.11:28, Luk.9:9, al. mult.; with genitive partit., Act.7:52, Heb.1:5, al; before ἐκ (= genitive partit.), Mat.6:27, Luk.14:28, Jhn.8:46; = ποῖος, Mrk.4:41 6:2, Luk.19:3, Act.17:19, al.; = πότερος (M, Pr., 77), Mat.21:31 27:17, Luk.22:27, al.; = ὅς or ὅστις (rare in cl.; cf. Bl., §50, 5; M, Pr., 93), Act.13:25. …

shall we drinkπίωμενpiōmenG4095
to drink

πίνω (pinō) πίνω [in LXX chiefly for שָׁתָה ;] to drink: absol., Luk.2:19, Jhn.4:7, al.; with accusative of thing(s), Mat.6:26, 31 Mrk.14:25, al.; of habitual use, Luk.1:15, Rom.14:21, al.; by meton., τὸ ποτήριον, 1Co.10:21, al.; of the earth absorbing rain (Hdt., al.), Heb.6:7; spiritually, of the blood of Christ, Jhn.6:53-54, 56; before ἐκ (of the vessel), Mat.26:27, al.; id. (of the drink; Bl., § 36, 1), Mat.26:29, Jhn.4:13-14 Rev.14:10, al.; ἀπό, Luk.22:18 (cf. ἀπο-, συν-πίνω; on the form πίεσαι, Luk.17:8, see Bl., § 21, 8, and on the contr. aor. πεῖν, M, Pr., 44 f., Thackeray, Gr., 63 f.) (AS)

OrἢēG2228
or

ἤ (ē) ἤ, disjunctive and comparative particle (Bl., §36, 12; 77, 11); 1. disjunctive, or; (a) between single words: Mat.5:17 Mrk.6:56, Luk.2:24, Jhn.6:19, Rom.1:21, al.; (b) before a sentence expressing a variation, denial or refutation of a previous statement, frequently in interrog. form: Mat.7:4, 9 Mrk.12:14, Luk.13:4, Rom.3:29 6:3 9:21, 1Co.6:9, 16 9:6, 2Co.11:7; ἤ . . . ἤ, either . . . or, Mat.6:24, Luk.16:13, 1Co.14:6; …

whatτίtiG5101
which?

τίς (tis) τίς, neut., τί, genitive, τίνος, interrog. pron., [in LXX for מָה ,מִי ;] in masc. and fem., who, which, what?; in neut., which, what?, used both in direct and in indirect questions. I. I. As subst., 1. 1. masc., fem.: τίς; who, what?, Mat.3:7 26:68; Mrk.11:28, Luk.9:9, al. mult.; with genitive partit., Act.7:52, Heb.1:5, al; before ἐκ (= genitive partit.), Mat.6:27, Luk.14:28, Jhn.8:46; = ποῖος, Mrk.4:41 6:2, Luk.19:3, Act.17:19, al.; = πότερος (M, Pr., 77), Mat.21:31 27:17, Luk.22:27, al.; = ὅς or ὅστις (rare in cl.; cf. Bl., §50, 5; M, Pr., 93), Act.13:25. …

shall we wear?περιβαλώμεθα;peribalōmethaG4016
to clothe

περιβάλλω (periballō) περι-βάλλω [in LXX chiefly for כָּסָה pi., also for לָבַשׁ, עָטָה, etc. ;] to throw around or over, put on or over; (a) of siege or defen­sive works: χάρακά σοι, Luk.19:43 (WH, mg.; παρεμβ-, WH, txt.); …

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.