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¹ See­ing the mul­ti­tudes, he went up onto the moun­tain. When he had sat down, his dis­ci­ples came to him. ² He opened his mouth and taught them, saying,

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the King­dom of Heaven¹.

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be com­forted².

⁵ Blessed are the gen­tle,
for they shall inherit the earth³.

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after right­eous­ness,
for they shall be filled.

⁷ Blessed are the mer­ci­ful,
for they shall obtain mercy.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.

⁹ Blessed are the peace­mak­ers,
for they shall be called chil­dren of God.

¹⁰ Blessed are those who have been per­se­cuted for right­eous­ness’ sake,
for theirs is the King­dom of Heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when peo­ple reproach you, per­se­cute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹² Rejoice, and be exceed­ingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they per­se­cuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its fla­vor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for noth­ing, but to be cast out and trod­den under the feet of men. ¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hid­den. ¹⁵ Nei­ther do you light a lamp, and put it under a mea­sur­ing bas­ket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glo­rify your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷ “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to ful­fill. ¹⁸ For most cer­tainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one small­est let­ter⁴ or one tiny pen stroke⁵ shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accom­plished. ¹⁹ Who­ever, there­fore, shall break one of these least com­mand­ments, and teach oth­ers to do so, shall be called least in the King­dom of Heaven; but who­ever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the King­dom of Heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your right­eous­ness exceeds that of the scribes and Phar­isees, there is no way you will enter into the King­dom of Heaven.

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not mur­der⁶;’ and ‘Who­ever shall mur­der shall be in dan­ger of the judg­ment.’ ²² But I tell you, that every­one who is angry with his brother with­out a cause⁷ shall be in dan­ger of the judg­ment; and who­ever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca⁸!’ shall be in dan­ger of the coun­cil; and who­ever shall say, ‘You fool!’ shall be in dan­ger of the fire of Gehenna⁹.

²³ “If there­fore you are offer­ing your gift at the altar, and there remem­ber that your brother has any­thing against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be rec­on­ciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ Agree with your adver­sary quickly, while you are with him in the way; lest per­haps the pros­e­cu­tor deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the offi­cer, and you be cast into prison. ²⁶ Most cer­tainly I tell you, you shall by no means get out of there, until you have paid the last penny¹⁰.

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said¹¹, ‘You shall not com­mit adul­tery¹²;’ ²⁸ but I tell you that every­one who gazes at a woman to lust after her has com­mit­ted adul­tery with her already in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to stum­ble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more prof­itable for you that one of your mem­bers should per­ish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna¹³. ³⁰ If your right hand causes you to stum­ble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more prof­itable for you that one of your mem­bers should per­ish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna¹⁴.

³¹ “It was also said, ‘Who­ever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writ­ing of divorce¹⁵,’ ³² but I tell you that who­ever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sex­ual immoral­ity, makes her an adul­ter­ess; and who­ever mar­ries her when she is put away com­mits adultery.

³³ “Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall per­form to the Lord your vows,’ ³⁴ but I tell you, don’t swear at all: nei­ther by heaven, for it is the throne of God; ³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is the foot­stool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nei­ther shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ What­ever is more than these is of the evil one.

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth¹⁶.’ ³⁹ But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but who­ever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰ If any­one sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. ⁴¹ Who­ever com­pels you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to bor­row from you.

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neigh­bor¹⁷, and hate your enemy¹⁸.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your ene­mies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mis­treat you and per­se­cute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be chil­dren of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax col­lec­tors do the same? ⁴⁷ If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than oth­ers? Don’t even the tax col­lec­tors¹⁹ do the same? ⁴⁸ There­fore you shall be per­fect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Matthew 5