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Readings from Exodus and Matthew

Exodus 20.1-17 (The Ten Commandments), New Revised Standard Version .............................. 2
Exodus 20.1-17 (The Ten Commandments), King James Version ..................................................... 3
Exodus 20.1-17 (The Ten Commandments), Robert Alter translation, with notes .................... 5
Matthew 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount), New Revised Standard Version ............................... 11
Matthew 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount), King James Version ...................................................... 16
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Exodus 20.1-17 (The Ten Commandments), New Revised Standard Version

Then God spoke all these words:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not
bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing
children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who
reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me
and keep my commandments.

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not
acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your
work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—
you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien
resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that
is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and
consecrated it.

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord
your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male
or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
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Exodus 20.1-17 (The Ten Commandments), King James Version

And God spake all these words, saying,

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of bondage.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me;

And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle,
nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested
the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the
LORD thy God giveth thee.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

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Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor
his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy
neighbour's.
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Exodus 20.1-17 (The Ten Commandments), Robert Alter translation, with

notes
1 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of slaves.
3 You shall have no other gods beside Me.
4 You shall make you no carved likeness and no image of what is in the heavens above
or what is on the earth below or what is in the waters beneath the earth.
5 You shall not bow to them and you shall not worship them, for I am the LORD your
God, a jealous god, reckoning the crime of fathers with sons, with the third
generation and with the fourth, for My foes,
6 and doing kindness to the thousandth generation for My friends and for those who
keep My commands.
7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not
acquit whosoever takes His name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day to hallow it.
9 Six days you shall work and you shall do your tasks, but the
10 seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You shall do no task, you and your
son and your daughter, your male slave and your slavegirl and your beast and your
sojourner who is within your gates.
11 For six days did the LORD make the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in
it, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore did the LORD bless the sabbath day
and hallow it.
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long on the soil that
the LORD your God has given you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your fellow man.
17 You shall not covet your fellow man’s wife, or his male slave, or his slavegirl, or his
ox, or his donkey, or anything that your fellow man has.”
18 And all the people were seeing the thunder and the flashes and the sound of the
ram’s horn and the mountain in smoke, and the people saw and they drew back and
stood at a distance.
19 And they said to Moses, “Speak you with us that we may hear, and let not God speak
with us lest we die.”
20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for in order to test you God has come and
in order that His fear be upon you, so that you do not offend.”
21 And the people stood at a distance, and Moses drew near the thick cloud where God
was.
22 And the LORD said to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Isrealites: ‘You yourselves
saw that from the heavens I spoke with you.
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23 You shall not make with Me gods of silver and gods of gold, you shall not make them
for yourselves.
24 An earthen altar shall you make for Me, and you shall sacrifice upon it your burnt
offerings and your communion sacrifices, your sheep and your cattle. In every place
that I make My name invoked, I shall come to you and bless you.
25 And you should make Me an altar of stones, you shall not build them of hewn stones,
for your sword profanes it.

Robert Alter's notes

Explanation: the boldface number (example: 1) is the verse number the note refers to. The
italicized words that begin each paragraph (example: You shall have no other gods) identify
to the specific phrase that the note refers to.

1 all these words. The number ten is not stipulated, but the formulaic number ten,
despite other ancient numerations of the commandments, exerted a powerful force.
Jewish and Christian traditions have different ways of dividing the "words," here
called devarim but in later Hebrew usage usually referred to as dibrot (singular,
diber), which means something like "utterance" or perhaps even "inspired speech."
The formulation of the ten injunctions is, in the most literal sense, lapidary – terse
enough to be carved in stone. There is a good deal of plausibility, then, in the
inference of some scholars that the wordier commandments here embody
explanatory glosses on or elaborations of the original succinct formulations. Moshe
Weinfeld proposes that the original version might have looked something like this:

1. I am the LORD your God; you shall have no other gods beside Me.
2. You shall make you no carved likeness.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to hallow it.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your fellow man.
10. You shall not covet.

The Hebrew, it should be said, is even more compact: commandments 6, 7, and 8, for
example, are each only two words, three syllables. Other ancient Near Eastern
cultures customarily used tables – as a rule, clay and not stone – for writing,
whereas the Hebrews adopted the speedier and more efficient writing technology of
ink on parchment or papyrus scrolls, which made detailed verbal elaboration easier.
The Hebrews did, however, use stone tablets for monumental inscriptions, as a few
recovered fragments indicate.
The use of stone tablets (the medium will be mentioned later) is most probably
dictated by the fact that these Ten Words amount to the text of a pact between God
and Israel, and such covenantal texts were typically recorded on tablets of metal or
stone.
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But writing on stone is also an archaic medium of communication and as such lines
up with the archaic cooking (fire-roasting) and the archaic baking (unleavened
bread) earlier in the story.

2 I am the LORD. As we had occasion to note in earlier passages, this formal

announcement of the identity of the sovereign whose authority underwrites what is
to follow is a convention of ancient Near Eastern royal proclamations.

3 You shall have no other gods. Throughout the Ten Words the commands are cast in
the second-person singular (elsewhere in Hebrew law, plurals or third-person
singulars are often used): the commandments are addressed to each person in
Israel.
beside Me. The literal meaning of the Hebrew is "upon my face." As Abraham ibn
Ezra acutely observes, this same idiom, 'al peney, is used in Genesis 11:28 in "Haran
died in the lifetime of ['al peney] Terah his father." The sense here, then, may be
something like this: I am eternally, and so you must have no other god alongside Me,
instead of Me, infringing on My eternal presence that brooks no successors.

4 the heavens above … the earth below … the waters beneath the earth. These are the
three realms of the biblical world-picture, each duly registered in the first Creation
story. If the LORD in His initial proclamation announces himself as the God of
history, "Who brought you out of the land of Egypt," here the language implies that
He is equally the God of the cosmos, not limited to one of its realms (in contrast, for
example, to Aton, elevated by Akhenaten over all other gods of Egypt but still a solar
deity). In Canaanite mythology, as in the corresponding mythologies of other ancient
peoples, different gods presided over the different realms of creation: Baal over the
land, Yamm over the sea, Mot over the underworld. The invocation here of pagan
pantheons argues strongly that the ban against fashioning images is a ban against
cultic icons (verse 5, "You shall not bow to them …") and not, as some currents of
later tradition concluded, a comprehensive prohibition of image-making.

5 a jealous god. The Hebrew qana' can mean either "jealous" (including the sexual
sense) or "zealous", "ardent." The appearance of the term in connection with God's
banning all cultic rivals suggests that the leading edge of the word here may in fact
be jealousy. The revolutionary idea of a single God uniting all the realms of creation
may be a noble and philosophically bold idea, but it is imagined in ancient Israel in
powerfully anthropomorphic terms: God does not tolerate rivals to the hearts of His
people. The word "god" here is not capitalized because the Hebrew employs the
generic term 'el: this, the LORD is saying, is the kind of god I am, and you had better
take that to heart.
reckoning the crime of fathers with sons … for My foes. This troubling statement is
explained by many Hebrew exegetes through reference to "my foes" (or, "those who
hate Me") at the end of the clause – it is often the way of the world for sons to follow
the path of their fathers, and as long as the offspring of the original offenders qualify
as God's foes, they will be subject to retribution. But the ancient view may well have
been that God's mercy was manifest in demanding retribution form only three of
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four generations while granting kindness for a thousand generations. The word
"foes" here is antithetically paired with "for My friends," (or, "those who love Me")
in verse 6.

6 doing kindness to. This could also be rendered as "keeping the faith with" -- hesed is
an act of kindness and also the loyal performance of an obligation in an alliance or
treaty.
the thousandth generation. The Hebrew 'alafirm would ordinarily mean "thousands,"
but the parallel passage in Deuteronomy 7:9 plausibly glosses this as a reference to
generations, in parallel to the previous verse.

7 take the name of the LORD your God in vain. The Hebrew verb literally means "bear"
and indicates the taking of a vow or oath. The reference is to the use of the potent
divine name in adjuration and perhaps also in magical conjuration, not to the
mentioning of the name in casual speech. "In vain" has the sense of "falsely," a
meaning made explicit in the version of this commandment in Deuteronomy 5:1.

8 Remember the sabbath day. This sole ritual – or at least calendric injunction among
the Ten Commandments is a hinge that connects the two principal aspects of the
deity already invoked: the God of creation and the God of history. The observance of
the sabbath is a commemoration or reenactment of God's creation from labor,
especially with the stipulation that one's male and female slaves should equally be
freed of labor on the seventh day, surely would have brought to the mind of these
newly freed slaves the blessings of freedom, of cessation of labor. Jewish liturgy
would pick up this clue by designating the sabbath "a remembrance of the going out
from Egypt."

9 tasks. In the Hebrew a collective noun in the singular.

12 Honor your father and your mother. This fifth commandment (according to the
numeration of Jewish tradition) effects a transition, as Nahmanides nicely observes,
from obligations vis-à-vis God to obligations vis-à-vis human beings, beginning with
the human pair through whom each of us comes into the world. It is also the only
commandment in which "no" or "not" (Hebrew lo') does not appear, though some
have argued that prohibitions – e.g., not showing disrespect – are implicit. (In any
event, the assumption of these Ten Words is that the way to monotheistic loyalty
and ethical behavior is paved with prohibitions, that human nature is fraught with
impulses that must be resisted.) It is hard to square the causal link between
honoring parents and longevity with empirical observation, and one probably has to
regard this as part of the traditional wisdom of the ancient Near East, the sort of
hopeful moral calculus reflected in the Book of Proverbs.

on the soil. The Hebrew 'adamah would also mean "land" or "earth," but an emphasis
on soil (the same stuff of which the altar in verse 24 is fashioned) sounds right for a
people who will chiefly make their living from farming.
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13 You shall not murder. Readers thoroughly conditioned by the King James Version's
"Thou shalt not kill" need to be reminded that the Hebrew verb ratsah clearly means
"murder," not "kill," and so that ban is specifically on criminal acts of taking of life.

17 You shall not covet. The Hebrew verb hamad exhibits a range of meaningfrom "yearn
for," "desire," even "lust after" (the usual sense in postbiblical Hebrew), to simply
"want." But here, as in 34:24, it clearly suggests wanting to possess something that
belongs to someone else, and so the King James Version rendering of "covet" still
seems the best English equivalent. The attempted legislation of desire is
problematic enough for Abraham ibn Ezra to devote what is almost a miniature
essay to the subject in his commentary. His solution is along the following lines:
Desire itself cannot be absolutely legislated but we all learn to condition ourselves
as to what is realistic desire and what has to be confined to the realm of mere
fantasy – for both moral and practical reasons. A peasant, ibn Ezra argues (perhaps
a little too confidently), may be struck by the beauty of a princess, but knowing that
she is inconceivably beyond his reach, "he will not cover her [or, lust after her] in his
heart to go to bed with her."

18 seeing the thunder and the flashes and the sound of the ram's horn. Logically, of
course, the objects of seeing would be only the lightning and the smoking mountain,
but the writer presents the Sinai epiphany as one tremendous synesthetic
experience that overwhelms the people while – the temporal force of the participial
"seeing" – the Ten Words are enunciated. Just as qolot, "sounds" or "voices", is not
the usual word for thunder, lapidim, "flashes," is not the usual designation for
lightning but rather a term that generally means "torches," here conveying the
visual immediacy of the lightning flashes.

drew back. Literally "swayed," suggesting a motion of involuntary recoil.

23 with Me. The preposition 'iti appears to have approximately the same meaning as 'al
panai, "beside Me," in the first commandment, and this prohibition of idol-making is
a reiteration of the first of the Ten Words.

make them. The accusative pronoun is merely implied in the Hebrew.

24 An earthen altar. These instructions have the effect of orienting the people toward a
temporal horizon when they will be planted on the soil ('adamah, the material for
building this altar). As Umberto Cassuto notes, this injunction dissipates any sense
the people might have that Sinai alone is God's dwelling place and that the worship
of the deity is a one-time event. The earthen material of the altar is also in stark
antithesis to the silver and gold of the idols.

In every place that I make My name invoked. As scholarship has abundantly

observed, the presumption here of a multiplicity of valid places for sacrifice
contrasts with the later insistence of Deuteronomy on a centralized cult "in the place
that I choose."
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25 your sword. English translation from Tyndale in the early sixteenth century to a
spectrum of translations at the end of the twentieth century have rendered this as
"tool" because the context obviously requires an implement for hewing stone. But
the Hebrew herev patently means "sword," here a kind of metaphoric stand-in for
"chisel," and pointedly used because of its association with killing. Rashi succinctly
catches the implication of the term:
"The altar was created to lengthen a man's days and iron was created to
shorten a man's days; it is not fit that the means of shortening should be
brandished over the means of lengthening."
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Matthew 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount), New Revised Standard Version
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples
came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

'Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

'Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

'Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

'Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.

'Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil
against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

'You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?
It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

'You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a
lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the
house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good
works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

'Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to
abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter,
not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore,
whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the
same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches
them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness
exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

'You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not murder"; and
"whoever murders shall be liable to judgment." But I say to you that if you are angry with a
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brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you
will be liable to the council; and if you say, "You fool", you will be liable to the hell of fire. So
when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has
something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to
your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your
accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to
the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you,
you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

'You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that
everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his
heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to
lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your
right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of
your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

'It was also said, "Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce." But I
say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes
her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

'Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not swear
falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord." But I say to you, Do not swear at
all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by
Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot
make one hair white or black. Let your word be "Yes, Yes" or "No, No"; anything more than
this comes from the evil one.

'You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But I say to you,
Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;
and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone
forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and
do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

'You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I
say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be
children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you,
what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet
only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the
Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

'Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you
have no reward from your Father in heaven.

'So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they
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have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what
your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who
sees in secret will reward you.

'And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in
the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell
you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut
the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will
reward you.

'When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that
they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows
what you need before you ask him.

'Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if
you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

'And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their
faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their
reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting
may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in
secret will reward you.

'Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and
where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

'The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of
light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light
in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

'No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be
devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
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'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,
or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of
you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about
clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell
you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes
the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not
much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, "What will we
eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear?" For it is the Gentiles who strive for
all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But
strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given
to you as well.

'So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's
trouble is enough for today.

'Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be
judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in
your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your
neighbor, "Let me take the speck out of your eye", while the log is in your own eye? You
hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the
speck out of your neighbor's eye.

'Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will
trample them under foot and turn and maul you.

'Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be
opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for
everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your
child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you
then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

'In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the
prophets.

'Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to
destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard
that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

'Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous
wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from
thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does
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not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their
fruits.

'Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord", will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one
who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did
we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of
power in your name?" Then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; go away from me,
you evildoers."

'Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man
who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on
that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who
hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his
house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that
house, and it fell—and great was its fall!'

Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his
teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
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Matthew 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount), King James Version

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples
came unto him:

And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of
evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they
the prophets which were before you.

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?
it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth
light unto all that are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfil.
 17

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so,
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in
danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of
the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath
ought against thee;

Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and
then come and offer thy gift.

Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time
the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou
be cast into prison.

Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the
uttermost farthing.

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart.

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for
thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast
into hell.

And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into
hell.

It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of
divorcement:
 18

But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of
fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is
divorced committeth adultery.

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear
thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great
King.

Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these
cometh of evil.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also.

And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise
on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the
same?

And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the
publicans so?

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Take 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.
 19

Therefore 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.

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward
thee openly.

And 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.

But 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.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall
be heard for their much speaking.
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of,
before ye ask him.

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy
name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Moreover 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.

But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
 20

That 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.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves break through and steal:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full
of light.

But 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!

No 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.

Therefore 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?

Behold 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?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they
toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore, 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?

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye
have need of all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be
added unto you.
 21

Take 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.

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it
shall be measured to you again.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam
that is in thine own eye?

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold,
a beam is in thine own eye?

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly
to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they
trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you:

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh
it shall be opened.

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be
that find it.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
 22

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil
fruit.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy
name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a
wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened
unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his
doctrine:

For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.