Matthew 6:25
New International Version
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

New Living Translation
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?

English Standard Version
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Berean Literal Bible
Because of this I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you should eat or what you should drink; nor your body, what you should put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

King James Bible
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

New King James Version
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

New American Standard Bible
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?

NASB 1995
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

NASB 1977
“For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?

Legacy Standard Bible
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Amplified Bible
“Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Christian Standard Bible
“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
“This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?

American Standard Version
Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because of this I say to you, you shall not take pains for yourselves with what you will eat, or what you will drink, neither for your body, what you will put on; behold, is not the soul greater than food, and the body than clothing?

Contemporary English Version
I tell you not to worry about your life. Don't worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food or clothing?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat: and the body more than the raiment?

English Revised Version
Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"So I tell you to stop worrying about what you will eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothes?

Good News Translation
"This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes?

International Standard Version
"That's why I'm telling you to stop worrying about your life—what you will eat or what you will drink —or about your body—what you will wear. Life is more than food, isn't it, and the body more than clothing?

Literal Standard Version
Because of this I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you may eat, and what you may drink, nor for your body, what you may put on. Is not life more than nourishment, and the body than clothing?

Majority Standard Bible
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

New American Bible
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

NET Bible
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?

New Revised Standard Version
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

New Heart English Bible
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore I say to you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than raiment?

Weymouth New Testament
For this reason I charge you not to be over-anxious about your lives, inquiring what you are to eat or what you are to drink, nor yet about your bodies, inquiring what clothes you are to put on. Is not the life more precious than its food, and the body than its clothing?

World English Bible
Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Young's Literal Translation
'Because of this I say to you, be not anxious for your life, what ye may eat, and what ye may drink, nor for your body, what ye may put on. Is not the life more than the nourishment, and the body than the clothing?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Do Not Worry
24No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?…

Cross References
Jeremiah 45:5
But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking! For I will bring disaster on every living creature, declares the LORD, but wherever you go, I will grant your life as a spoil of war."

Matthew 6:27
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Matthew 6:28
And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.

Matthew 6:31
Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

Matthew 6:34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 10:19
But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say.

Luke 10:41
"Martha, Martha," the Lord replied, "you are worried and upset about many things.


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

I say.

Matthew 5:22-28
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire…

Luke 12:4,5,8,9,22
And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do…

Take.

Matthew 6:31,34
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? …

Matthew 10:19
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

Matthew 13:22
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

Is not.

Luke 12:23
The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.

Romans 8:32
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Jump to Previous
Anxious Bodies Body Careful Cause Charge Clothes Clothing Drink Eat Food Important Inquiring Life Meat Over-Anxious Precious Raiment Reason Thought Wear Worry
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Anxious Bodies Body Careful Cause Charge Clothes Clothing Drink Eat Food Important Inquiring Life Meat Over-Anxious Precious Raiment Reason Thought Wear Worry
Matthew 6
1. Giving to the Needy
5. The Lord's Prayer
16. Proper Fasting
19. Store up Treasures in Heaven
25. Do Not Worry
33. but seek God's kingdom.














(25) Take no thought.--The Greek word some times thus translated, and sometimes by "care" or "be careful" (1Corinthians 7:32-34; Philippians 2:20; Philippians 4:6), expresses anxiety, literally, the care which distracts us. And this was, in the sixteenth century, the meaning of the English phrase "take thought." Of this we have one example in 1Samuel 9:5; other examples of it are found in Shakespeare, "take thought, and die for Caesar" (Julius Caesar, ii. 1), or Bacon (Henry the Eighth, p. 220), who speaks of a man "dying with thought and anguish" before his case was heard. The usage of the time, therefore, probably led the translators of 1611 to choose the phrase, as stronger than the "be not careful" which in this passage stood in all previous versions. The changing fortune of words has now made it weaker, and it would be better to substitute "over-careful" or "over-anxious." The temper against which our Lord warns His disciples is not that of foresight, which merely provides for the future, but the allowing ourselves to be harassed and vexed with its uncertainties. To "take thought" in the modern sense is often the most effectual safeguard (next to the higher defence of trust in God) against "taking thought" in the older.

For your life.--The Greek word is the same as that commonly rendered "soul," and the passage is interesting as an example of its use in the wider sense which includes the lower as well as the higher life. (Comp. Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:25; Mark 3:4, et at.) We note in the form of the precept the homeliness of the cases selected as illustration. We hear the language of One who speaks to peasants with their simple yet pressing wants, not to the wider cares of the covetous or ambitious of a higher grade. . . .

Verses 25-34. - These verses, with the exception of the last, which should perhaps hardly be included, are very similar to the parallel passage, Luke 12:22-32. It seems probable that in the differences Luke preserves the more original form (cf. the notes on the separate verses, infra). What their original position was is another question. Their immediate sequence in Luke to the parable of the rich fool is no doubt perfectly natural, and is accepted by most commentators as original; but the connexion with the context here is so close that, especially with the probabilities of the case in vers. 22, 23, and ver. 24, St. Matthew may, after all, have recorded them in their original place. Our Lord says in these verses, "Dare to follow out this warning that I have given you about double service into your daily life. Do not give way to anxiety about the things of life, but look up to God in steady gaze of faith; he will provide." 'Or, more in detail - If God has given you life, shall he not add the food and the clothing (ver. 25)? Anxiety about the support of your life is needless (witness the birds, ver. 26) and powerless (witness the limit of a man's life, ver. 27); while as for clothing, it is equally needless (witness the flowers, ver. 28) and comparatively powerless (witness Solomon's own case, ver. 29). Remember your relation to God (ver. 30). Therefore do not give way to the least anxiety about these things (ver. 31), because this is to fall to the level of the Gentiles, and also because God, whose children you are, knows your needs (ver. 32). But make his cause, without and within, your great object, and all your needs shall be supplied (ver. 33). Therefore be not at all anxious, bear the burden of each day only as each day comes round (ver. 34). Verse 25. - Therefore (διὰ τοῦτο). Because of this fact last mentioned, the impossibility of dividing your service. Cease to be anxious about things of this life, for anxiety about these is a mark of your attempting this impossibility. I say unto you. Though the absence of the personal pronoun (unlike Matthew 5:22, etc.) shows that he is not here contrasting himself with them or with others, yet he still emphasizes his authority. Take no thought; Revised Version, be not anxious (μὴ μεριμνᾶτε). The translation of the Authorized Version, which was quite correct in its day (cf. also 1 Samuel 9:5), is now archaic, and therefore often misunderstood. For the popular derivation of μεριμνάω ("division," "distraction"), cf. 1 Corinthians 7:33, "But he that is married is anxious for (μεριμνᾷ) the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and is divided (μεμέρισται)." Observe that forethought in earthly matters was practised by our Lord himself (John 12:6). For your life (τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν). In the Gospels ψυχή is the immaterial part of man, his personality as we should say, which survives death (Matthew 10:28), and is the chief object of a man's care (Matthew 10:39, where see note). What ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink. Although the second clause is omitted by א and a few chiefly "Western" authorities, it is probably genuine, especially as there is no trace of it in Luke (but cf. Westcott and Heft, 'Introd.,' p. 176). Is not the life more than meat? i.e. you possess the greater, shall there not be given to you the less? Humphry compares Matthew 23:17. Meat; Revised Version, the food (τῆς τροφῆς); i.e. the Revised Version

(1) changes "meat" to its modern equivalent,

(2) defines with the Greek the food as that which is necessary for the body. Similarly before "raiment."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Therefore
Διὰ (Dia)
Preposition
Strong's 1223: A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through.

I tell
λέγω (legō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

you,
ὑμῖν (hymin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

[do] not
μὴ (mē)
Adverb
Strong's 3361: Not, lest. A primary particle of qualified negation; not, lest; also (whereas ou expects an affirmative one) whether.

worry about
μεριμνᾶτε (merimnate)
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 3309: To be over-anxious; with acc: To be anxious about, distracted; I care for. From merimna; to be anxious about.

your
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

life,
ψυχῇ (psychē)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5590: From psucho; breath, i.e. spirit, abstractly or concretely.

what
τί (ti)
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 5101: Who, which, what, why. Probably emphatic of tis; an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what.

you will eat
φάγητε (phagēte)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 5315: A primary verb; to eat.

or
(ē)
Conjunction
Strong's 2228: Or, than. A primary particle of distinction between two connected terms; disjunctive, or; comparative, than.

drink;
πίητε (piēte)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4095: To drink, imbibe. A prolonged form of pio, which poo occurs only as an alternate in certain tenses; to imbibe.

or
μηδὲ (mēde)
Conjunction
Strong's 3366: And not, not even, neither�nor. From me and de; but not, not even; in a continued negation, nor.

[about] your
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

body,
σώματι (sōmati)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4983: Body, flesh; the body of the Church. From sozo; the body, used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively.

what
τί (ti)
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 5101: Who, which, what, why. Probably emphatic of tis; an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what.

you will wear.
ἐνδύσησθε (endysēsthe)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Middle - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1746: To put on, clothe (another). From en and duno; to invest with clothing.

Is
ἐστιν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

not
οὐχὶ (ouchi)
IntPrtcl
Strong's 3780: By no means, not at all. Intensive of ou; not indeed.

life
ψυχὴ (psychē)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5590: From psucho; breath, i.e. spirit, abstractly or concretely.

more
πλεῖόν (pleion)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular - Comparative
Strong's 4119: Or neuter pleion, or pleon comparative of polus; more in quantity, number, or quality; also the major portion.

than
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

food,
τροφῆς (trophēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 5160: Food, nourishment, maintenance. From trepho; nourishment; by implication, rations.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

the
τὸ (to)
Article - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

body
σῶμα (sōma)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4983: Body, flesh; the body of the Church. From sozo; the body, used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively.

[more] than
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

clothes?
ἐνδύματος (endymatos)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 1742: A garment, raiment, clothing. From enduo; apparel.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 6:25 Therefore I tell you don't be anxious (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 6:24
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