Matthew 6

The chapter in full, then what it says, what the Greek or Hebrew decides, and where readers have disagreed.

Matthew 6 WEB

1 "Be careful that you don't do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 Therefore, when you do merciful deeds, don't sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
3 But when you do merciful deeds, don't let your left hand know what your right hand does,
4 so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
5 "When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward.
6 But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 In praying, don't use vain repetitions as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking.
8 Therefore don't be like them, for your Father knows what things you need before you ask him.
9 Pray like this: "'Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
10 Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
13 Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.'
14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you don't forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 "Moreover when you fast, don't be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
19 "Don't lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don't break through and steal;
21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can't serve both God and Mammon.
25 Therefore I tell you, don't be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 See the birds of the sky, that they don't sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you of much more value than they?
27 "Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?
28 Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don't toil, neither do they spin,
29 yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won't he much more clothe you, you of little faith?
31 "Therefore don't be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?', 'What will we drink?' or, 'With what will we be clothed?'
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first God's Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore don't be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day's own evil is sufficient.

What is happening

Matthew 6 sits in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, the block of teaching (Matthew 5–7) delivered on a hillside in Galilee to disciples, with crowds within earshot. Chapter 5 has just redefined righteousness against the letter of the law — not less demanding but more searching ("You have heard... but I say to you"). Chapter 6 turns from the content of righteousness to its posture: not what is done, but before whom, and for whom. The three classic Jewish acts of piety — almsgiving, prayer, fasting — are taken up in turn, each with the same structure: don't do it like the hypocrites, do it like this instead, because the Father sees. The chapter then widens into teaching on treasure, the eye, divided loyalty, and anxiety, all of which turn out to be the same problem restated: where is the reward being sought, and from whom.

The passage, walked through

Almsgiving (6:1–4). The opening command sets the terms for everything that follows: "Be careful that you don't do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them" (6:1). The Greek for "charitable giving" here is δικαιοσύνην — "righteousness" — the same word that closes chapter 5; Matthew treats almsgiving as righteousness enacted, not an optional extra to it. The warning against sounding a trumpet (6:2) is likely hyperbole rather than a report of an actual practice — no evidence exists of literal trumpets accompanying synagogue almsgiving — but the exaggeration makes the point sharper, not softer. "Hypocrites" (ὑποκριταί) originally meant a stage actor, one who plays a part for an audience; the charge is not that the giving is fake but that the audience is wrong. The remedy is comic in its extremity — "don't let your left hand know what your right hand does" (6:3) — not a literal procedure but a picture of giving with no internal audience either. "They have received their reward" (ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν, 6:2) uses a commercial verb: the transaction is closed, paid in full, nothing owed. Basil the Great presses the same logic further, insisting the alms are not really the giver's to withhold: "The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked" (Homily VI.7) — the point being that secrecy is not about hiddenness for its own sake but about who the deed is actually for.

Prayer (6:5–15). The same pattern repeats, then the Lord's Prayer is given as the positive model. Verse 6's "inner room" (ταμεῖον) is a storeroom or private chamber, not a technical term for a prayer closet — the contrast is simply public street-corner display versus a shut door. Verse 7 warns against "vain repetitions" — βατταλογήσητε, a rare word suggesting babbling or empty verbal padding — practiced "as the Gentiles do," who "think that they will be heard for their much speaking" (πολυλογίᾳ). This is not a condemnation of repeated prayer as such (Jesus himself will pray the same words three times in Gethsemane) but of prayer as incantation, as if volume or verbal technique compels God. The reason given cuts against anxious prayer altogether: "your Father knows what things you need before you ask him" (6:8). The prayer that follows (6:9–13) is not a formula to be recited so much as a template: God's name, kingdom, and will come first; bread, forgiveness, and deliverance from testing come after. "Give us today our daily bread" (6:11) translates ἐπιούσιον, a word so rare it appears almost nowhere else in surviving Greek — "daily" is the traditional and reasonable guess, but the term's precise sense (this day's bread? bread for existence? bread for tomorrow?) is genuinely uncertain in Greek terms, not settled by translation. "Deliver us from the evil one" (6:13) renders τοῦ πονηροῦ, which is ambiguous between "evil" as an abstraction and "the evil one" as a person; the WEB's choice reflects a real interpretive decision, not a plain default. Verses 14–15 then detach from the prayer's structure and press one clause of it home as a standalone, unconditional statement: forgiveness given and forgiveness received are bound together, not as a bargain but as a fact about how the Father deals with those who will not deal that way with others.

Fasting (6:16–18). The third act follows the identical shape: don't perform it for an audience (the disfigured, gloomy face is for effect, not grief), but wash and anoint as if nothing is happening, "so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret" (6:18).

Treasure, the eye, and two masters (6:19–24). The chapter turns from acts of piety to the disposition underneath them. "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (6:21) — not a psychological observation about sentimental attachment but a claim that the heart follows the object of investment, not the reverse. The "sound eye" and "evil eye" (6:22–23) use ἁπλοῦς ("single," "healthy," "unclouded") against πονηρός ("evil," or possibly "diseased") — the image is of the eye as what lets light into the body, so a diseased eye floods the whole self with darkness. Verse 24 states outright what treasure and eye have implied: "No one can serve two masters... You can't serve both God and Mammon." Mammon (מָמוֹן) is simply the Aramaic word for wealth or property; it is not a demon's proper name here, though later usage personified it. The claim is structural, not moralistic — service to two total claims is not difficult but impossible, because δουλεύειν is slave-service, not part-time employment.

Anxiety (6:25–34). The link to what precedes is the word "therefore" (6:25): because no one serves two masters, don't be anxious as though provision depended on a second master. The birds and lilies are not offered as models of effortlessness to imitate but as evidence about the Father who feeds and clothes them without their striving — "Aren't you of much more value than they?" (6:26). The chapter's summary command follows: "seek first God's Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well" (6:33) — a reordering of priority, not a promise that faith guarantees comfort. The closing verse refuses to let concern be exported into the future: "tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day's own evil is sufficient" (6:34).

Where readers have disagreed

The Lord's Prayer generates the most sustained disagreement, chiefly over ἐπιούσιον ("daily") and πονηρός ("evil" / "the evil one") — genuine lexical uncertainty, not merely translation preference. Catholic and Protestant traditions have also long disputed the added doxology ("For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever") found in some manuscript traditions and liturgical use but bracketed by many modern editions as a later liturgical addition rather than original text. On the eye passage (6:22–23), some read it as primarily about generosity (an "evil eye" being ancient shorthand for stinginess), continuous with the treasure teaching just before, while others read it more generally as a statement about moral perception. And "seek first" (6:33) has been read by some as implying material guarantee for faithful believers — a reading the chapter's own final verse (6:34, "each day's own evil is sufficient") resists, since it assumes trouble persists rather than disappears.

What it asks of a reader

The chapter presses a single question through five different acts: whose eyes matter. It does not ask for less devotion, less generosity, less prayer, less fasting, less care about provision — it asks where the appetite for approval or security is actually pointed, and states plainly that a divided aim is not a lesser righteousness but no righteousness of the kind the Father rewards. Sibbes' description of mercy applies at the hinge of the chapter, where forgiveness given and received are bound: "There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us" (The Bruised Reed, ch. 2) — not offered by the chapter itself as comfort against its demand, but naming the character of the Father the chapter keeps invoking as the one who already sees, already knows, and already forgives before the asking.

The verses this turns on

Matthew 6:1 WEB

"Be careful that you don't do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

discussed above

Greek Nestle 1904

Προσέχετε δὲ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὑμῶν μὴ ποιεῖν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι αὐτοῖς· εἰ δὲ μήγε, μισθὸν οὐκ ἔχετε παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ ὑμῶν τῷ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.

Προσέχετε προσέχω verb · present active imperative, 2nd person plural G4337
δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
τὴν ὁ article · accusative singular feminine G3588
δικαιοσύνην δικαιοσύνη noun · accusative singular feminine G1343
ὑμῶν σύ personal pronoun G4771
μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
ποιεῖν ποιέω verb · present active infinitive G4160
ἔμπροσθεν ἔμπροσθεν preposition G1715
τῶν ὁ article · genitive plural masculine G3588
ἀνθρώπων ἄνθρωπος noun · genitive plural masculine G444
πρὸς πρός preposition G4314
τὸ ὁ article · accusative singular neuter G3588

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5

Matthew 23:5 But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the fringes of their garments,
John 12:43 for they loved men's praise more than God's praise.
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.
Matthew 23:28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Luke 16:15 He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Matthew 6:2 WEB

Therefore, when you do merciful deeds, don't sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.

discussed above

Greek Nestle 1904

Ὅταν οὖν ποιῇς ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ σαλπίσῃς ἔμπροσθέν σου, ὥσπερ οἱ ὑποκριταὶ ποιοῦσιν ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς ῥύμαις, ὅπως δοξασθῶσιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν.

Ὅταν ὅταν conjunction G3752
οὖν οὖν conjunction G3767
ποιῇς ποιέω verb · present active subjunctive, 2nd person singular G4160
ἐλεημοσύνην, ἐλεημοσύνη noun · accusative singular feminine G1654
μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
σαλπίσῃς σαλπίζω verb · aorist active subjunctive, 2nd person singular G4537
ἔμπροσθέν ἔμπροσθεν preposition G1715
σου, σύ personal pronoun G4771
ὥσπερ ὥσπερ adverb G5618
οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
ὑποκριταὶ ὑποκριτής noun · nominative plural masculine G5273
ποιοῦσιν ποιέω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person plural G4160

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5

Matthew 6:5 "When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward.
2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Matthew 6:16 "Moreover when you fast, don't be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
John 5:41 I don't receive glory from men.
James 2:15 And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food,

Matthew 6:3 WEB

But when you do merciful deeds, don't let your left hand know what your right hand does,

discussed above

Greek Nestle 1904

σοῦ δὲ ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου,

σοῦ σύ personal pronoun G4771
δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
ποιοῦντος ποιέω verb · present active participle, genitive singular masculine G4160
ἐλεημοσύνην ἐλεημοσύνη noun · accusative singular feminine G1654
μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
γνώτω γινώσκω verb · aorist active imperative, 3rd person singular G1097
ἡ ὁ article · nominative singular feminine G3588
ἀριστερά ἀριστερός adjective · nominative singular feminine G710
σου σύ personal pronoun G4771
τί τίς interrogative pronoun · accusative singular neuter G5101
ποιεῖ ποιέω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G4160
ἡ ὁ article · nominative singular feminine G3588

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5

Matthew 6:2 Therefore, when you do merciful deeds, don't sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
Luke 18:10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.
Luke 18:13 But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn't even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
Mark 11:25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.

Matthew 6:8 WEB

Therefore don't be like them, for your Father knows what things you need before you ask him.

discussed above

Greek Nestle 1904

μὴ οὖν ὁμοιωθῆτε αὐτοῖς· οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὧν χρείαν ἔχετε πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν.

μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
οὖν οὖν conjunction G3767
ὁμοιωθῆτε ὁμοιόω verb · aorist passive subjunctive, 2nd person plural G3666
αὐτοῖς· αὐτός personal pronoun · dative plural masculine G846
οἶδεν οἶδα verb · perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular G1492
γὰρ γάρ conjunction G1063
ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
Πατὴρ πατήρ noun · nominative singular masculine G3962
ὑμῶν σύ personal pronoun G4771
ὧν ὅς relative pronoun · genitive plural neuter G3739
χρείαν χρεία noun · accusative singular feminine G5532
ἔχετε ἔχω verb · present active indicative, 2nd person plural G2192

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5

Matthew 6:32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Luke 12:30 For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things.
Philippians 4:6-7 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
John 16:23 "In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
Psalm 38:9 Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.

Matthew 6:9 WEB

Pray like this: "'Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

discussed above

Greek Nestle 1904

οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· Ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·

οὕτως οὕτω adverb G3779
οὖν οὖν conjunction G3767
προσεύχεσθε προσεύχομαι verb · present middle or passive deponent imperative, 2nd person plural G4336
ὑμεῖς σύ personal pronoun G4771
Πάτερ πατήρ noun · vocative singular masculine G3962
ἡμῶν ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
τοῖς ὁ article · dative plural masculine G3588
οὐρανοῖς· οὐρανός noun · dative plural masculine G3772
Ἁγιασθήτω ἁγιάζω verb · aorist passive imperative, 3rd person singular G37
τὸ ὁ article · nominative singular neuter G3588

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5

Revelation 4:11 "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed and were created!"
Luke 11:1 When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples."
Romans 8:15 For you didn't receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"
Psalm 111:9 He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awesome!
Isaiah 64:8 But now, Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.

Matthew 6:11 WEB

Give us today our daily bread.

discussed above

Greek Nestle 1904

Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·

Τὸν ὁ article · accusative singular masculine G3588
ἄρτον ἄρτος noun · accusative singular masculine G740
ἡμῶν ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
τὸν ὁ article · accusative singular masculine G3588
ἐπιούσιον ἐπιούσιος adjective · accusative singular masculine G1967
δὸς δίδωμι verb · aorist active imperative, 2nd person singular G1325
ἡμῖν ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
σήμερον· σήμερον adverb G4594

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5

Proverbs 30:8 Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me,
Luke 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
Matthew 4:4 But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God's mouth.'"
Psalm 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
John 6:31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, 'He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.'"

Matthew 6:13 WEB

Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.'

discussed above

Greek Nestle 1904

καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.

καὶ καί conjunction G2532
μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
εἰσενέγκῃς εἰσφέρω verb · aorist active subjunctive, 2nd person singular G1533
ἡμᾶς ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
εἰς εἰς preposition G1519
πειρασμόν, πειρασμός noun · accusative singular masculine G3986
ἀλλὰ ἀλλά conjunction G235
ῥῦσαι ῥύομαι verb · aorist middle deponent imperative, 2nd person singular G4506
ἡμᾶς ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
ἀπὸ ἀπό preposition G575
τοῦ ὁ article · genitive singular masculine G3588
πονηροῦ. πονηρός adjective · genitive singular masculine G4190

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
John 17:15 I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.
Revelation 7:14 I told him, "My lord, you know." He said to me, "These are those who came out of the great suffering. They washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb's blood.
Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that you don't enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

From the interpretive tradition

The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked.

Basil the Great Homily VI.7 father · eastern public domain

There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.

Richard Sibbes The Bruised Reed, ch. 2 pastor · puritan public domain

Matthew 6

The verses this turns on

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