Matthew 5:21-48

21Jesus then said, ‘You know the rule that God gave to your ancestors: “You must not kill anyone. Any person who does kill someone will stand in front of a judge. The judge will punish him because he has done a wrong thing.”

22But what I now say to you is this: Anybody who is angry with his brother will have to stand in front of a judge. Or someone might call his brother by a bad name. Then he will have to stand in front of the Jewish leaders. They will judge him. But someone may say to his brother, “You are a fool.” God will judge that person. God may punish him in the fires of hell.

23Maybe you go to the temple to give your gift to God. You take it to the altar. But then you remember that your brother is angry with you.

24You must leave your gift there in front of God's altar. First you must go and find your brother. Tell him that you are sorry. Then you can both become friends with each other again. After that, you can return to the altar and give your gift to God.

25Also, somebody may say that you have done something wrong against him. He may take you to stand in front of the judge. You should quickly try to agree with this person. Decide with him how to make things right again. Do this even while you are going with him to the judge. If you do not do that, the judge may agree that you have done a wrong thing. Then he will give you to his officer. His officer will put you in prison.

26I tell you this: You will remain in prison until you have paid all the money, even the last small coin.’

27Jesus then said, ‘You know what God's rule says: “You must not have sex with anyone who is not your husband or your wife.”

28But what I tell you is this: A man may look at a woman who is not his wife. And he may want to have sex with her. In his thoughts, he has had sex with her, so he has done a wrong thing.

29If your right eye leads you to do wrong things, then you should take it out. You should throw it away. Yes, you will lose one eye. But it will be much worse if you keep your whole body and God throws you into hell.

30Also, if your right hand leads you to do wrong things, then you should cut it off. You should throw it away. You will lose one hand. But it will be much worse if you keep your body in one piece and go to hell.’

31‘God's Law also says: “Any man who wants to send his wife away must give her a letter. This letter must say that they are no longer married.”

32But what I tell you is this: A man must not send his wife away except for one reason. He may only send her away if she has had sex with another man. If he sends her away for any other reason, he has done a wrong thing. It is like he has caused her to have sex with another man. Also, if a woman has left her husband, another man must not marry her. That is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife.’

33‘You also know the rule that God gave to your ancestors: “If you make a promise to God, you must do what you have said.”

34But what I tell you is this. Do not use any name to make a promise stronger. Do not use the words “by heaven” to make a promise stronger. Heaven is the place where God rules. Do not use the words “by the earth” to make a promise stronger. The earth is the place where God rests his feet.

35Do not use the words “by Jerusalem” to make a promise stronger. Jerusalem is God's city. He is the great King who rules from there.

36Do not use the words “by my head” to make a promise. You cannot make the colour of even one of your hairs black or white.

37Instead, when you make a promise, you should say only “Yes, I will do it.” Or you should say only “No, I will not do it.” If you say anything more than this, what you say is bad. It comes from Satan.’

38Jesus then said, ‘You also know that God's Law says: “If somebody destroys your eye, then you should destroy that person's eye. If somebody destroys your tooth, then you should destroy that person's tooth.”

39But what I tell you is this. If somebody does something bad to you, do not do anything against him. Somebody may slap you on one side of your face. Then you should also let him slap the other side of your face.

40Maybe somebody wants to take you to the judge. He says that you should give him your shirt. Give the man your shirt, and give him your coat too.

41Or a soldier may tell you, “Carry my luggage for one kilometre.” You should do that. Even agree to carry it for two kilometres.

42When people ask you for something, you should give it to them. If they ask you to lend them something, then you should not refuse.

43You have heard people say, “Love the people who are your friends. But hate those who want to hurt you.”

44What I tell you is this: You should love the people who want to hurt you. If people want to give you pain, pray for them. Pray that God would help them.

45If you live like this, you will show that you really are children of your Father above. God is kind to everyone. He causes the sun to shine on everyone, both good people and bad people. He also causes the rain to fall on everyone, people who obey him and people who do not obey him.

46Do you only love people who love you? God will not give you good things just for doing that. Even the men who take taxes love their friends!

47If you are only kind to your friends, then you are not doing anything special. Even people who do not believe in God do that.

48So you must be good in every way, as your Father above is good in every way.’