Matthew 5
5
The Sermon on the Mount. 1#5:1–7:29] The first of the five discourses that are a central part of the structure of this gospel. It is the discourse section of the first book and contains sayings of Jesus derived from Q and from M. The Lucan parallel is in that gospel’s “Sermon on the Plain” (Lk 6:20–49), although some of the sayings in Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” have their parallels in other parts of Luke. The careful topical arrangement of the sermon is probably not due only to Matthew’s editing; he seems to have had a structured discourse of Jesus as one of his sources. The form of that source may have been as follows: four beatitudes (Mt 5:3–4, 6, 11–12), a section on the new righteousness with illustrations (Mt 5:17, 20–24, 27–28, 33–48), a section on good works (Mt 6:1–6, 16–18), and three warnings (Mt 7:1–2, 15–21, 24–27). When he saw the crowds,#Unlike Luke’s sermon, this is addressed not only to the disciples but to the crowds (see Mt 7:28). he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2He began to teach them, saying:
The Beatitudes#The form Blessed are (is) occurs frequently in the Old Testament in the Wisdom literature and in the psalms. Although modified by Matthew, the first, second, fourth, and ninth beatitudes have Lucan parallels (Mt 5:3 // Lk 6:20; Mt 5:4 // Lk 6:21b; Mt 5:6 // Lk 6:21a; Mt 5:11–12 // Lk 5:22–23). The others were added by the evangelist and are probably his own composition. A few manuscripts, Western and Alexandrian, and many versions and patristic quotations give the second and third beatitudes in inverted order.
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,#The poor in spirit: in the Old Testament, the poor (’anāwîm) are those who are without material possessions and whose confidence is in God (see Is 61:1; Zep 2:3; in the NAB the word is translated lowly and humble, respectively, in those texts). Matthew added in spirit in order either to indicate that only the devout poor were meant or to extend the beatitude to all, of whatever social rank, who recognized their complete dependence on God. The same phrase poor in spirit is found in the Qumran literature (1QM 14:7).
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.#Lk 6:20–23.
4#Cf. Is 61:2, “(The Lord has sent me)…to comfort all who mourn.” They will be comforted: here the passive is a “theological passive” equivalent to the active “God will comfort them”; so also in Mt 5:6, 7. Blessed are they who mourn,#Is 61:2–3; Rev 21:4.
for they will be comforted.
5#Cf. Ps 37:11, “…the meek shall possess the land.” In the psalm “the land” means the land of Palestine; here it means the kingdom. Blessed are the meek,#Gn 13:15; Ps 37:11.
for they will inherit the land.
6Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,#For righteousness: a Matthean addition. For the meaning of righteousness here, see note on Mt 3:14–15.
for they will be satisfied.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.#18:33; Jas 2:13.
8#Cf. Ps 24:4. Only one “whose heart is clean” can take part in the temple worship. To be with God in the temple is described in Ps 42:3 as “beholding his face,” but here the promise to the clean of heart is that they will see God not in the temple but in the coming kingdom. Blessed are the clean of heart,#Ps 24:4–5; 73:1.
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,#Righteousness here, as usually in Matthew, means conduct in conformity with God’s will.
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.#1 Pt 2:20; 3:14; 4:14.
11Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me.#10:22; Acts 5:41. 12#The prophets who were before you: the disciples of Jesus stand in the line of the persecuted prophets of Israel. Some would see the expression as indicating also that Matthew considered all Christian disciples as prophets. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.#2 Chr 36:16; Heb 11:32–38; Jas 5:10. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The Similes of Salt and Light.#By their deeds the disciples are to influence the world for good. They can no more escape notice than a city set on a mountain. If they fail in good works, they are as useless as flavorless salt or as a lamp whose light is concealed. 13#Mk 9:50; Lk 14:34–35. “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.#The unusual supposition of salt losing its flavor has led some to suppose that the saying refers to the salt of the Dead Sea that, because chemically impure, could lose its taste. 14You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.#Jn 8:12. 15Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.#Mk 4:21; Lk 8:16; 11:33. 16Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.#Jn 3:21.
Teaching About the Law. 17#This statement of Jesus’ position concerning the Mosaic law is composed of traditional material from Matthew’s sermon documentation (see note on Mt 5:1–7:29), other Q material (cf. Mt 18; Lk 16:17), and the evangelist’s own editorial touches. To fulfill the law appears at first to mean a literal enforcement of the law in the least detail: until heaven and earth pass away nothing of the law will pass (Mt 5:18). Yet the “passing away” of heaven and earth is not necessarily the end of the world understood, as in much apocalyptic literature, as the dissolution of the existing universe. The “turning of the ages” comes with the apocalyptic event of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and those to whom this gospel is addressed are living in the new and final age, prophesied by Isaiah as the time of “new heavens and a new earth” (Is 65:17; 66:22). Meanwhile, during Jesus’ ministry when the kingdom is already breaking in, his mission remains within the framework of the law, though with significant anticipation of the age to come, as the following antitheses (Mt 5:21–48) show. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.#Lk 16:17. 19Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.#Probably these commandments means those of the Mosaic law. But this is an interim ethic “until heaven and earth pass away.” 20I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Teaching About Anger.#Six examples of the conduct demanded of the Christian disciple. Each deals with a commandment of the law, introduced by You have heard that it was said to your ancestors or an equivalent formula, followed by Jesus’ teaching in respect to that commandment, But I say to you; thus their designation as “antitheses.” Three of them accept the Mosaic law but extend or deepen it (Mt 5:21–22; 27–28; 43–44); three reject it as a standard of conduct for the disciples (Mt 5:31–32; 33–37; 38–39). 21“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,#Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17. ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’#Cf. Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17. The second part of the verse is not an exact quotation from the Old Testament, but cf. Ex 21:12. 22#Reconciliation with an offended brother is urged in the admonition of Mt 5:23–24 and the parable of Mt 5:25–26 (// Lk 12:58–59). The severity of the judge in the parable is a warning of the fate of unrepentant sinners in the coming judgment by God. But I say to you, whoever is angry#Anger is the motive behind murder, as the insulting epithets are steps that may lead to it. They, as well as the deed, are all forbidden. Raqa: an Aramaic word rēqā’ or rēqâ probably meaning “imbecile,” “blockhead,” a term of abuse. The ascending order of punishment, judgment (by a local council?), trial before the Sanhedrin, condemnation to Gehenna, points to a higher degree of seriousness in each of the offenses. Sanhedrin: the highest judicial body of Judaism. Gehenna: in Hebrew gê-hinnōm, “Valley of Hinnom,” or gê ben-hinnōm, “Valley of the son of Hinnom,” southwest of Jerusalem, the center of an idolatrous cult during the monarchy in which children were offered in sacrifice (see 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 7:31). In Jos 18:16 (Septuagint, Codex Vaticanus) the Hebrew is transliterated into Greek as gaienna, which appears in the New Testament as geenna. The concept of punishment of sinners by fire either after death or after the final judgment is found in Jewish apocalyptic literature (e.g., Enoch 90:26) but the name geenna is first given to the place of punishment in the New Testament. with his brother will be liable to judgment,#Jas 1:19–20. and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. 23Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you,#Mk 11:25. 24leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.#18:34–35; Lk 12:58–59. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.
Teaching About Adultery. 27#See Ex 20:14; Dt 5:18. “You have heard that it was said,#Ex 20:14; Dt 5:18. ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29#No sacrifice is too great to avoid total destruction in Gehenna. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.#18:8–9; Mk 9:43–47. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. 30And 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 to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
Teaching About Divorce. 31#See Dt 24:1–5. The Old Testament commandment that a bill of divorce be given to the woman assumes the legitimacy of divorce itself. It is this that Jesus denies. (Unless the marriage is unlawful): this “exceptive clause,” as it is often called, occurs also in Mt 19:9, where the Greek is slightly different. There are other sayings of Jesus about divorce that prohibit it absolutely (see Mk 10:11–12; Lk 16:18; cf. 1 Cor 7:10, 11b), and most scholars agree that they represent the stand of Jesus. Matthew’s “exceptive clauses” are understood by some as a modification of the absolute prohibition. It seems, however, that the unlawfulness that Matthew gives as a reason why a marriage must be broken refers to a situation peculiar to his community: the violation of Mosaic law forbidding marriage between persons of certain blood and/or legal relationship (Lv 18:6–18). Marriages of that sort were regarded as incest (porneia), but some rabbis allowed Gentile converts to Judaism who had contracted such marriages to remain in them. Matthew’s “exceptive clause” is against such permissiveness for Gentile converts to Christianity; cf. the similar prohibition of porneia in Acts 15:20, 29. In this interpretation, the clause constitutes no exception to the absolute prohibition of divorce when the marriage is lawful. “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.’#19:3–9; Dt 24:1. 32But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.#Lk 16:18; 1 Cor 7:10–11.
Teaching About Oaths. 33#This is not an exact quotation of any Old Testament text, but see Ex 20:7; Dt 5:11; Lv 19:12. The purpose of an oath was to guarantee truthfulness by one’s calling on God as witness. #Lv 19:12; Nm 30:3. “Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.’ 34#Ps 48:3; Sir 23:9; Is 66:1; Jas 5:12. But I say to you, do not swear at all;#The use of these oath formularies that avoid the divine name is in fact equivalent to swearing by it, for all the things sworn by are related to God. not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37#Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No’: literally, “let your speech be ‘Yes, yes,’ ‘No, no.’” Some have understood this as a milder form of oath, permitted by Jesus. In view of Mt 5:34, “Do not swear at all,” that is unlikely. From the evil one: i.e., from the devil. Oath-taking presupposes a sinful weakness of the human race, namely, the tendency to lie. Jesus demands of his disciples a truthfulness that makes oaths unnecessary. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.
Teaching About Retaliation. 38#See Lv 24:20. The Old Testament commandment was meant to moderate vengeance; the punishment should not exceed the injury done. Jesus forbids even this proportionate retaliation. Of the five examples that follow, only the first deals directly with retaliation for evil; the others speak of liberality. “You have heard that it was said,#Ex 21:24; Lv 24:19–20. ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39#Lk 6:29–30. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. 40If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. 41Should anyone press you into service for one mile,#Roman garrisons in Palestine had the right to requisition the property and services of the native population. go with him for two miles.#Lam 3:30. 42Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.#Dt 15:7–8.
Love of Enemies.#See Lv 19:18. There is no Old Testament commandment demanding hatred of one’s enemy, but the “neighbor” of the love commandment was understood as one’s fellow countryman. Both in the Old Testament (Ps 139:19–22) and at Qumran (1QS 9:21) hatred of evil persons is assumed to be right. Jesus extends the love commandment to the enemy and the persecutor. His disciples, as children of God, must imitate the example of their Father, who grants his gifts of sun and rain to both the good and the bad. 43#Lk 6:27, 32–36. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’#Lv 19:18. 44But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. 46For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors#Tax collectors: Jews who were engaged in the collection of indirect taxes such as tolls and customs. See note on Mk 2:14. do the same? 47And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?#Jesus’ disciples must not be content with merely usual standards of conduct; see Mt 5:20 where the verb “surpass” (Greek perisseuō) is cognate with the unusual (perisson) of this verse. 48So be perfect,#Perfect: in the gospels this word occurs only in Matthew, here and in Mt 19:21. The Lucan parallel (Lk 6:36) demands that the disciples be merciful. just as your heavenly Father is perfect.#Lv 11:44; 19:2; Dt 18:13; Jas 1:4; 1 Pt 1:16; 1 Jn 3:3.
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Matthew 5: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Matthew 5
5
If you do what God wants, you will be really happy later
1Jesus saw big mobs of people coming to him. So he went up a big hill, and he sat down there to teach them. His followers, the people that wanted to learn about God, they all went close to him, to listen to him. 2Then he started to teach them.
3Jesus said, “Some people know that they need God very much. All right, God will take those people into his family, and they will be really happy.
4Some people are very sad now, and they cry, but God will make them feel better, and they will be really happy.#Isaiah 61:2
5Some people know that they are weak, and they don’t try to be important. But later God will give them everything in the world, and they will be really happy.
6Some people really want to live the right way, and they want other people to live the right way too. They think about that more than anything else, like they are really hungry and thirsty for it to happen. All right, God will give them what they want, and they will be really happy.
7Some people feel sorry for other people, and they don’t do payback for the bad things those other people did. All right, God will do the same. He will feel sorry for those people that feel sorry for other people. He will not do payback to them for the bad things they did, and they will be really happy.
8Some people never want to do bad things. These people will see God, and they will be really happy.#Psalm 24:3-4
9Some people help other people to settle down, stop arguing, and agree with each other. God will tell those people, ‘You are my own kids.’ And they will be really happy.
10Some people do what is right, but some other people don’t like it, and they make trouble for those good people. But God takes those good people into his family, and they will be really happy.
11And you too. Some people will not like you following me, and they will say bad things about you, and they will make trouble for you. Sometimes people will tell lies about you. But don’t worry. Be really happy when they do that.#1 Peter 4:14 12You see, if they do these bad things to you now, God will give you lots of good things later, in heaven. So you can be really happy, no matter what they do. Remember the stories from a long time ago, about the men that told everyone God’s message. Some people did bad things to those men too.”#2 Chronicles 36:16; Acts 7:52
Christians are like salt
13Jesus said, “You people that follow me are like salt for everybody on the earth. You know, salt helps food taste good and stops it from rotting. Well, if you follow me properly, you will live in a way that helps people to be good. Yes, salt is good, but if it stops tasting like salt, then it is no good any more. Nobody can use it for anything. They chuck it away, and everyone walks on it. So don’t be like that sort of salt. Don’t stop following me.”
Christians have to be like a light for people
14And Jesus said, “You people that follow me have to live the right way and show people the way to God. It is like you are a light for everybody in the world. You know, if people build houses up on a hill, then everyone can see them clearly. You are like those houses on a hill. Everyone can see you clearly. They can know if you are good, or if you are bad.#John 8:12; 9:5 15Nobody ever lights a candle and then puts a bowl over it. No way. They put that candle up in a high place, so that its light shines out everywhere.#Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16; 11:33 16You have to be like that candle. You have to let everyone see that you are following me. They will see all the good things you do, and they will say good things about God, your father in heaven. They will say, ‘God is really great.’ ”#1 Peter 2:12
The law and the messages in God’s book are really important
17Jesus kept on teaching them. He said, “You know the law that Moses wrote. Well, I didn’t come here to take away that law. And you know all the messages that God gave to his men, the messages that they wrote in his book for us. I didn’t come here to take away those messages either. But I came here to show that the law and those messages are right, and to make those things happen, just like those men wrote. 18Listen. God’s book is really important. Everything in it will happen. You know, the earth and sky are always here. They don’t change. Well, just like that, God’s word and his laws will not change, not even a little bit. They will stay the same until everything in God’s book happens.#Luke 16:17 19So if you think to yourself, ‘I can break just one little rule,’ and if you teach other people to think like that too, then later on, in God’s family in heaven, nobody will respect you. They will say, ‘You are no good.’ But if you don’t break any of God’s rules, and if you teach other people to follow them too, then later on, in God’s family in heaven, everyone will respect you. And they will say, ‘You are really good.’ 20I’m telling you this, if you don’t do everything that God says, then you can’t come into his family. You know that mob called Pharisees. They are really strong for our Jewish law. And you know the mob that teach our Jewish law. Well, you have to follow God’s law better than all of that Pharisee mob and that law teacher mob.”
Don’t get angry
21Jesus said, “You know, the teachers of God’s law tell you what God told the people, a long time ago. They say, ‘Don’t murder anybody. If you murder somebody, then you have to go to court, and the judge will punish you.’#Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17 22But now I’m telling you this. Don’t even get angry with anybody. That is bad too. If you are angry with somebody, God will be your judge, and he will punish you. Or if you call somebody bad names, you will end up in God’s court. And if you get really angry with somebody, and if you tell them, ‘You are a stupid fool,’ God will judge you for that, and he can send you into the big fire called hell.”
Fix up problems with other people
23Jesus said to the people, “Suppose you go to give a gift to God, and you take it to God’s ceremony house, but then you remember that somebody is upset with you about something. 24You have to leave your gift there at God’s house, and you have to go and find that other person straight away. You have to tell them that you are sorry, and you have to fix up that problem with them, so that you can both be friends again. After that, you can go back and give your gift to God.
25If somebody blames you and says that you have done something wrong, and if they start to take you to court about it, then you have to talk to that person straight away, and fix up that problem. Both of you have to agree about what is right. Do that even while you are going along the road to the court. If you don’t do that, then that person will blame you in the court, and the judge might agree with them and tell the police to grab you and put you in jail. 26And you will stay in jail until you give that other person all the money that you owe them. That’s for sure.”
Don’t even think about doing bad things
27Jesus said, “You know, the teachers of God’s law tell you this, ‘Don’t sleep with a woman that is not your wife, as if you are married to her.’#Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18 28But now I’m telling you this. If you look at a woman that is not your wife, and you think about sleeping with her, that is bad too. If you think about doing that, you are going wrong. Thinking about it is just as bad as doing it. 29You see, if things in your life push you to go wrong, then you have to get rid of them, even if it is hard to do. Be careful about how you use your eyes. If you see something that gets you to go wrong, then stop looking. That might be hard to do, like you are pulling out your eye and throwing it away. But it is better to lose one eye here on the earth now, than to keep 2 eyes and go to the bad place called hell.#Matthew 18:9; Mark 9:47 30And think about how you use your hand. If you do something with your hand that gets you to go wrong, then pull your hand away. That might be hard to do, like you are cutting off your hand and throwing it away. But it is better to lose one hand here on the earth now, than to keep 2 hands and go to hell.”#Matthew 18:8; Mark 9:43
Husbands and wives have to stay together
31Then Jesus said, “And God’s law says, ‘If a man wants to leave his wife, then he can write a divorce letter and give it to her. Then they aren’t married any more.’#Deuteronomy 24:1-4; Matthew 19:7; Mark 10:4 32But now I’m telling you this, husbands and wives have to stay married to each other. Only if a man’s wife sleeps with another man, as if he is her husband, only then can her husband divorce her. But if a wife never does that, then her husband can’t divorce her. If he divorces her, he is forcing her to marry another man and sleep with him, and that is wrong. And the man that marries her is doing wrong too.”#Matthew 19:9; Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18; 1 Corinthians 7:10-11
Don’t use God’s name to get people to believe you
33Jesus said to the people, “You know, sometimes people promise something to somebody, and to get people to believe them, they say, ‘by God’. That shows that they want God to punish them if they don’t do it. And the law teachers tell you that God said, ‘If you say, “by God”, then you have to do what you promised.’#Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21 34But now I’m telling you this. If you promise something, don’t say, ‘by God’, to get people to believe you. And don’t say, ‘by heaven’, when you promise something. God is the boss in heaven, so that is just like saying, ‘by God’.#James 5:12; Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 23:22 35And don’t say, ‘by the earth’, when you promise something. God controls the earth too. And don’t say, ‘by Jerusalem’, when you promise something. Jerusalem is God’s special city. He is the big boss there.#Isaiah 66:1; Psalm 48:2 36And don’t say, ‘by my head’, when you promise something. You can’t change the colour of even one hair on your head, to turn it black or turn it white. 37Look, just say what is properly true. When yes is the true answer, just say, ‘Yes.’ And when no is the true answer, just say, ‘No.’ The devil, the boss over the bad spirits, he tries to get you to say more than that, but don’t do it. Don’t say anything more to try to get people to believe you.”
Don’t do payback
38Jesus kept on talking to them. He said, “You know, the teachers of God’s law tell you this, ‘If somebody hits your eye and blinds it, then this is the payback, you have to hit one of that person’s eyes and blind it.’ And the teachers of God’s law say, ‘If somebody knocks out your tooth, then this is the payback, you have to knock out one of that person’s teeth.’ That’s what they say.#Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21 39But now I’m telling you this, don’t do payback at all. If somebody does something bad to you, don’t do payback to them. Somebody might hit you on one side of your face. All right, let them hit you on the other side of your face too. 40Or if somebody takes you to court to get your shirt, all right, give that person your shirt, and give them your coat too. 41Or a soldier might tell you, ‘Carry my bag for a kilometre.’ All right, help him more than that. Carry it for 2 kilometres. 42Or if somebody asks you for something, give it to them. Or if they want to borrow something from you, let them have it.”
You have to love everyone
43Jesus said, “You know, those teachers tell you this, ‘Love your friends and hate your enemies.’#Leviticus 19:18 44But I’m telling you to do more than that. You have to love your enemies too. And if anyone makes trouble for you, pray to God and ask him to be good to them. 45If you do that, you will be just like your father in heaven. He gets the sun to shine on everybody, bad people as well as good people. And he gets the rain to fall on everybody, good people and bad people too.
46You see, if you only love the people that love you, that is nothing. Even bad people do that. God will not give you anything for only loving people that love you. 47And if you only talk to your friends, that is nothing. Everybody talks to their friends, even people that don’t believe in God do that. So if you only talk to your friends, you are no better than those people.
48So this is what I say. You have to be properly good, just like your father in heaven is properly good.”#Leviticus 19:2; Deuteronomy 18:13
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