Matthew 6:4
New International Version
so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

New Living Translation
Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

English Standard Version
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Berean Standard Bible
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Berean Literal Bible
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, the One seeing in secret, will reward you.

King James Bible
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

New King James Version
that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

New American Standard Bible
so that your charitable giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

NASB 1995
so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

NASB 1977
that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

Legacy Standard Bible
so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Amplified Bible
so that your charitable acts will be done in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.

Christian Standard Bible
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

American Standard Version
that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
So that your charity may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you in public.

Contemporary English Version
Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret and will reward you.

Douay-Rheims Bible
That thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee.

English Revised Version
that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Give your contributions privately. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.

Good News Translation
Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

International Standard Version
so that your giving may be done in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Literal Standard Version
that your kindness may be in secret, and your Father who is seeing in secret will reward you Himself.

Majority Standard Bible
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will Himself reward you openly.

New American Bible
so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

NET Bible
so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

New Revised Standard Version
so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

New Heart English Bible
so that your charitable giving may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Webster's Bible Translation
That thy alms may be in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, himself will reward thee openly.

Weymouth New Testament
that your charities may be in secret; and then your Father--He who sees in secret--will recompense you.

World English Bible
so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Young's Literal Translation
that thy kindness may be in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret Himself shall reward thee manifestly.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Giving to the Needy
3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 5And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.…

Cross References
Proverbs 25:22
For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

Jeremiah 17:10
I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.

Matthew 6:3
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

Matthew 6:6
But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:18
so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Hebrews 4:13
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.


Treasury of Scripture

That your alms may be in secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself shall reward you openly.

seeth.

Matthew 6:6,18
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly…

Psalm 17:3
Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

Psalm 44:21
Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

reward.

Matthew 10:42
And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

Matthew 25:34-40
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: …

1 Samuel 2:30
Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Jump to Previous
Alms Charities Deeds Kindness Manifestly Merciful Openly Recompense Render Reward Secret
Jump to Next
Alms Charities Deeds Kindness Manifestly Merciful Openly Recompense Render Reward Secret
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.














(4) That thine alms may be in secret.--Here again we have a principle rather than a rule. Publicity may be a duty, especially in public work. But this--gifts for schools, hospitals, and the like--is hardly contemplated in the word "alms," which refers rather to acts of mercy, to cases of individual suffering. Ostentation in those acts is what our Lord especially condemns.

Thy Father which seeth in secret.--The attribute which we call the Omniscience of God is commonly dwelt on as calculated to inspire a just fear of the All-seeing One. He sees, we say, the evil deeds that are done in secret. Here it is brought before us as an encouragement and ground of hope. Do we feel isolated, not understood, not appreciated? He sees in secret and will reward.

Shall reward thee openly.--A curious instance of an early attempt to improve on our Lord's teaching. The adverb "openly" is not found in the best MSS., and is now omitted by most editors. It would seem either as if a false rhetorical taste desired a more complete antithesis, or that the craving for public acknowledgment in the presence of men and angels asserted itself even here, and led men to add to the words of the divine Teacher. It need hardly be said that the addition weakens and lowers the force of the truth asserted. It is not necessarily in this way, "openly," that God rewards His servants, nor do the words point only to the reward of the last great day. The reward is at once immediate, and, it may be, secret--the hidden manna, the joy with which a stranger doth not intermeddle, and which no man taketh from us.

Verse 4. - And thy Father which seeth in secret (comp. ver. 6, note). Himself. Revised 'Version omits, with the manuscripts. Shall reward thee; Revised Version, shall recompense thee (ἀποδώσει σοι). Shall give to thee in full measure corresponding to the contents of that which is really due (cf. Isaiah 65:6, 7, LXX.). When this" recompense" shall be given is not stated. If, as is probable, our Lord is thinking of the" reward" of ver. 1 and Matthew 5:12, it would naturally be given at the judgment-day. Openly. Revised Version omits, with the manuscripts; similarly vers. 6,18. The interpolation was probably made not only because of the contrast suggested by "in secret," but also to indicate more precisely the time when God would do this.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
so that
ὅπως (hopōs)
Conjunction
Strong's 3704: From hos and pos; what(-ever) how, i.e. In the manner that (as adverb or conjunction of coincidence, intentional or actual).

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

giving
ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosynē)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1654: Abstr: alms-giving, charity; concr: alms, charity. From eleos; compassionateness, i.e. beneficence, or a benefaction.

may be
(ē)
Verb - Present Subjunctive 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.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

secret.
κρυπτῷ (kryptō)
Adjective - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 2927: From krupto; concealed, i.e. Private.

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

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

Father,
Πατήρ (Patēr)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3962: Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. Apparently a primary word; a 'father'.

who sees
βλέπων (blepōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 991: (primarily physical), I look, see, perceive, discern. A primary verb; to look at.

what is done
τῷ (tō)
Article - Dative 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.

in secret,
κρυπτῷ (kryptō)
Adjective - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 2927: From krupto; concealed, i.e. Private.

will reward
ἀποδώσει (apodōsei)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 591: From apo and didomi; to give away, i.e. Up, over, back, etc.

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


Links
Matthew 6:4 NIV
Matthew 6:4 NLT
Matthew 6:4 ESV
Matthew 6:4 NASB
Matthew 6:4 KJV

Matthew 6:4 BibleApps.com
Matthew 6:4 Biblia Paralela
Matthew 6:4 Chinese Bible
Matthew 6:4 French Bible
Matthew 6:4 Catholic Bible

NT Gospels: Matthew 6:4 So that your merciful deeds may be (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 6:3
Top of Page
Top of Page