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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 6

1 “Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people.⁠ Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.⁠ 2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward!⁠ 3 But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,⁠ 4 so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites⁠ because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward! 6 But whenever you pray, go into your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.⁠ And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 7 When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles because they think that by their many words they will be heard.⁠ 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 So pray this way: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,⁠ 10 may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.⁠ 11 Give us today our daily bread,⁠ 12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.⁠ 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.⁠ 14 “For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.⁠ 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins. 16 “When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting.⁠ I tell you the truth, they have their reward! 17 When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 19 “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and devouring insect destroy and where thieves break in and steal.⁠ 20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven,⁠ where moth and devouring insect do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.⁠ 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body.⁠ If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.⁠ 23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light 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 he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.⁠ 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.⁠ Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?⁠ 26 Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are?⁠ 27 And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? 28 Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! 30 And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith? 31 So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.⁠ 34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Wisdom of Solomon 7:11 and Matthew 6:33

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

In Matthew 6, Jesus describes following the kingdom of God as the priority from which all else is added, language similar to the Wisdom of Solomon, which describes wisdom as the central pursuit through which every good thing comes.

Passages

Wisdom of Solomon 7:11

Deuterocanon
9 Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem, because all gold in her presence is a little sand, and silver will be considered as clay before her. 10 I loved her more than health and beauty, and I chose to have her rather than light, because her bright shining is never laid to sleep. 11 All good things came to me with her, and innumerable riches are in her hands. 12 And I rejoiced over them all because wisdom leads them; although I didn’t know that she was their mother. 13 As I learned without guile, I impart without grudging. I don’t hide her riches.
50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

Matthew 6:33

New Testament
31 So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... General background for this statement is forthcoming in 3 Kings 3:13 (“Yea, and the things also which thou didst not ask, I have given thee; to wit, riches and glory: so that no one hath been like thee among the kings in all days heretofore”); 3 Kings 4:21–24; Wisdom 7:11; and Matthew 6:33 ..."
Jan M. Ziolkowski, Solomon and Marcolf (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008), 181.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Wisdom of Solomon 7:11 and Matthew 6:33

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