Matthew:5-6
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When Jesus saw the many people ,
he went up on a hill .
He sat down and his disciples came to him .
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He began to teach the people .
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He said ,
God makes happy those who know that they need him .
The kingdom of heaven is for them .
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God makes happy those who are sad .
They will have comfort .
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God makes happy those who quietly trust him and do not try to get their own way .
The world will belong to them .
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God makes happy those who are hungry and thirsty for what is right and good .
They will be filled .
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God makes happy those who are kind .
He will be kind to them .
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God makes happy those who have clean hearts .
They will see God .
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God makes happy those who make peace between people .
They will be called Gods sons .
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God makes happy those who have trouble for doing what is right .
The kingdom of heaven is for them .
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God makes you happy when people say wrong things about you ,
when they trouble you ,
and when they say all kinds of lies about you .
God makes you happy when it is for my sake .
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Be happy and glad because God will be good to you in heaven .
In the same way people troubled the prophets before your time .
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You are like salt in the world .
If salt has lost its taste ,
how can it be made salty again ?
Salt that has no taste is good for nothing .
The only thing to do is to throw it out on the road .
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You are like light in the world .
A city built on a hill cannot be hidden .
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So also with a lamp .
People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket .
But they put it on the place for a lamp .
Then all the people in the house can see its light .
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So ,
let your light shine to all people .
Then they will see the good things you do .
And they will praise your Father in heaven .
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Do not think that I have come to take away the law and the writings of the prophets .
No ,
I have not come to take them away .
But I have come to do what they say must be done .
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I tell you the truth .
Until the sky and the earth are taken away ,
not one small part of the law will be taken away ,
until everything has been done .
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So anyone who does not obey one of the smallest laws ,
and teaches other people not to obey it ,
will have the smallest part in the kingdom of heaven .
But any one who obeys and teaches the law ,
will have a big part in the kingdom of heaven .
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I tell you ,
you must do much better than the scribes and Pharisees .
If you do not ,
then you will never go into the kingdom of heaven .
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You have heard this said to men long ago , "
Do not kill .
Anyone who kills will be judged in court ."
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But I tell you this .
Anyone who is angry with his brother without having a good reason ,
will be judged in court .
Anyone who says wrong things to his brother will be judged for it in the big court .
Anyone who says "
You fool !"
will be judged to go into hell fire .
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Perhaps you are bringing your gift to God at his altar .
There you remember that your brother has something against you .
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If so ,
leave your gift there in front of the altar .
First ,
go to your brother and make things right with him .
Then come and give your gift to God .
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If someone wants to take you to court ,
make an agreement with him quickly on the way .
If you do not ,
he will take you to the judge .
The judge will give you to the guard ,
and the guard will put you in prison .
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I tell you the truth ,
you will not get out of prison until you have paid every piece of money .
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You have heard that the law says , "
Do not commit adultery &
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have another man or woman who is not your husband or wife &
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But I tell you that if a man looks at a woman and he wants her ,
then he has already committed adultery with her in his heart .
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If your right eye makes you do wrong ,
take it out and throw it away .
It is better to lose a part of your body ,
than for your whole body to be thrown into hell .
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If your right hand makes you do wrong ,
cut it off and throw it away .
It is better to lose a part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell fire .
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The law said , "
Any man who does not want to keep his wife must give her a paper to tell others she is no longer his wife ."
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But I tell you ,
no man may send away his wife unless she has committed adultery .
If he does send her away ,
he is making her commit adultery .
And if a man marries a woman who has been sent away from her husband ,
he commits adultery .
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Also you have heard this said to men long ago , "
You must not make a promise in Gods name and break it ."
And , "
You must do for the Lord what you said you would do ."
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But I tell you ,
do not make a promise in Gods name .
Do not use the name of heaven ,
because that is where God rules .
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Do not use the name of earth ,
because that is where God rests his feet .
Do not use the name of Jerusalem ,
because it is the city of the great King .
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Do not make a promise by your head ,
because you cannot make one hair of your head white or black .
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You must mean "
Yes "
when you say "
Yes ".
You must mean "
No "
when you say "
No ".
To say anything more than that is wrong .
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You have heard that the law says , "
Take an eye for an eye ,
and a tooth for a tooth ."
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But I tell you ,
do not fight with anyone who does wrong to you .
But if someone hits you on one side of your face ,
turn the other side to him also .
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If anyone takes you to court to get your shirt ,
let him have your coat also .
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If anyone wants you to help carry a load ,
go with him twice as far .
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When someone asks you for something ,
give it to him .
When someone wants to borrow something from you ,
let him have it .
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You have heard that the law says , "
Love your neighbour and hate your enemy ."
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But I tell you ,
love your enemies .
Ask God to do good to those who trouble you .
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In that way you will be sons of your Father in heaven .
He makes his sun shine on both wrong and good people .
He lets the rain fall on people who do right and on people who do wrong .
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If you love only those who love you ,
what reward will you get ?
Even the tax collectors do that .
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Do you speak to your brothers only ?
If so ,
you are not doing any better than other people .
Even people who do not believe in God do that .
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You must be good in every way ,
as your Father in heaven is good in every way .
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Do not do good things so that people will see you do them .
If you do ,
you will get no reward from your Father in heaven .
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So when you give money to poor people ,
do not send men in front of you to blow trumpets or horns .
Some people do this in the meeting houses and on the streets so that people will praise them .
They are not true to themselves .
I tell you the truth .
They have their pay already .
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But when you give money to poor people ,
do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing .
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In this way ,
what you give to the poor will be secret .
Your Father sees secret things and he will reward you .
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When you talk to God ,
do not be like people who are not true to themselves .
They like to stand and talk to God in the meeting houses and at the street corners ,
so that people will see them .
I tell you the truth .
They have their reward already .
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But when you talk to God ,
go into your room and shut the door .
Then talk to your Father in secret .
Your Father sees secret things and he will reward you .
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And when you talk to God ,
do not say words that mean nothing ,
over and over again .
People who do not believe in God do that .
They think their god will hear them because they say many words .
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Do not be like them .
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him .
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So talk to your God like this : "
Our Father in heaven ,
may your name be kept holy .
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May your kingdom come .
May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven .
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Give us our food for today .
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Forgive us for the wrong things we have done ,
the way we forgive those who have done wrong things to us .
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Do not test us but help us ,
so that no one will make us do wrong .
Deliver us from the evil one .
The kingdom and power and praise belong to you for ever .
Amen !"
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If you forgive others for the wrong things they have done ,
then your Father in heaven will forgive you .
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But if you do not forgive others ,
your Father will not forgive you for the wrong things you have done .
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When you are fasting &
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not eating food for a time &
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do not look sad .
That is what people do who are not true to themselves .
They look sad to show people they are fasting .
I tell you the truth .
They have their reward already .
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But when you fast ,
put oil on your head and wash your face as you do at other times .
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Then people will not see that you are fasting .
But your Father sees secret things ,
and he will reward you .
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Do not keep many things for yourself on earth .
Insects and rust will spoil them .
People will get in and steal them .
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But keep things for yourself in heaven .
Insects and rust will not spoil them there .
People will not get in and steal them .
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The place where you keep things is where your heart will be also .
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The body gets its light through the eyes .
If you have good eyes ,
all your body will have light .
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But if your eyes are bad ,
all your body will be in darkness .
If the light in you is dark ,
it will be very dark for you .
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No man can work for two masters .
He will hate one and love the other .
Or he will obey one and despise the other .
You cannot work for both God and money .
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So ,
I tell you this .
Do not be troubled about what you will eat or drink to keep alive .
Do not be troubled about what you will wear on your body .
Life itself is worth more than food ,
and the body is worth more than clothes .
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Look at the birds that fly in the air .
They do not plant or cut or keep any food .
Yet your Father in heaven feeds them .
Are you not worth more than birds ?
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Can any one of you live any longer by troubling yourself about these things ?
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And why are you troubled about clothes ?
See how the flowers grow in the fields .
They do not work or make cloth .
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I tell you ,
King Solomon was a great man .
But he was not dressed as fine as one of these flowers .
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God dresses the grass in the fields so it looks nice .
It is in the field one day and the next day it is put on the fire .
If God dresses the grass like that ,
he cares much more that you have clothes to wear .
You do not believe in God very much !
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So then ,
do not keep asking , "
What shall we eat ?" "
What shall we drink ?"
and "
What shall we wear ?"
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It is the people who do not believe in God who work for all these things .
Your Father in heaven knows that you need them all .
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Work first for Gods kingdom and what he calls good .
Then you will have all these things also .
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So do not be troubling yourself about tomorrow .
Tomorrow will have its own trouble .
Todays trouble is enough for today .
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Do not judge others ,
then you will not be judged .