Matthew 6 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Be careful not to perform your acts of generosity in front of people just to be noticed by them. If you do, you won't receive any reward from your Father in heaven.

So when you give to those in need, don't make a big show of it — like the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, trying to get people to admire them. I'm telling you the truth: they've already gotten their full reward.

Instead, when you give to those in need, don't even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

Give your gifts in secret. And your Father, who sees what's done in secret, will reward you.

And when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so everyone can see them. I'm telling you the truth: they've already gotten their full reward.

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what's done in secret, will reward you.

And when you pray, don't babble on and on like the non-Jewish people do. They think they'll be heard because of their many words.

Don't be like them, because your Father already knows exactly what you need before you even ask him.

So here's how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored as the extraordinary name it is.

May your kingdom come. May what you want be done here on earth, just as it's already done in heaven.

Give us today the food we need for today.

And forgive us for the ways we've failed you, just as we have forgiven those who have failed us.

And don't let us be dragged into a test we can't handle, but pull us away from the evil one.

Because if you forgive other people when they fail you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you don't forgive other people, your Father won't forgive you for the ways you've failed either.

When you go without food to focus on God, don't look miserable like the hypocrites do. They make their faces look terrible so everyone will know they're fasting. I'm telling you the truth: they've already gotten their full reward.

But when you go without food to focus on God, wash your face and fix your hair like normal,

so that it won't be obvious to people that you're going without food—only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what's done in secret, will reward you.

Don't pile up treasures here on earth, where moths and rust eat them away, and where thieves break in and steal them.

Instead, pile up treasures in heaven, where moths and rust can't touch them, and where thieves can't break in and steal.

Because wherever your treasure is, that's where your heart will be too.

Your eye is like a lamp for your whole body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light.

But if your eye is bad, your whole body is full of darkness. And if the light inside you is actually darkness — how deep that darkness is!

Nobody can work for two bosses. You'll either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and look down on the other. You can't work for both God and Money.

That's why I'm telling you: stop worrying about your life — what you'll eat or what you'll drink — or about your body — what you'll wear. Isn't life more than food? Isn't your body more than clothes?

Look at the birds in the sky. They don't plant seeds, they don't harvest crops, they don't store food in barns — and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth way more than they are?

And which one of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes? Look at how the wildflowers grow. They don't work hard and they don't make their own clothes.

But I'm telling you, not even Solomon in all his royal splendor was dressed as beautifully as one of these.

If that's how God dresses the grass that's here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, won't he take care of you even more? You have so little trust!

So stop worrying, saying, 'What are we going to eat?' or 'What are we going to drink?' or 'What are we going to wear?'

These are the things that non-Jewish people chase after obsessively. But your heavenly Father already knows you need all these things.

Instead, make your first priority God's kingdom and living the right way, and all these things will be given to you as well.

So don't worry about tomorrow — tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.