The Sermon on the Mount

Marvin Meyer, translator

The Sermon on the Mount is the Gospel of Matthew’s way of presenting Jesus, after the manner of Moses, discussing the law up on a mountain. Occupying chapters 5-7 of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount may be compared to Luke’s Sermon on the Plain found in chapter 6 of Luke’s gospel. The Sermon on the Mount is a radical statement of ethical piety, and as such it has impacted the life and thought not only of Albert Schweitzer but also of Tolstoy, Bonhoeffer, Gandhi, and others.

This translation uses Hebraic forms of several names as a way of communicating the fact that Jesus was a Jewish teacher speaking especially in Aramaic within a Jewish context, a point also stressed by Schweitzer. Thus, the name of Jesus is given as Yeshua, the law and prophets are termed the Torah and the Nevi’im, the hellish valley near Jerusalem where human sacrifices once were performed is named Gehenna, Jerusalem is called Yerushalayim, Solomon is called Shlomo, and non-Jewish people (Gentiles) are called goyim. The yodh is a small Hebrew letter (the Greek has iota, a small Greek letter), and the serif is a "hook" on a Hebrew letter.

The significance of the Sermon on the Mount for Schweitzer’s ethic of reverence for life may be noticed throughout the sermon, but perhaps particularly in the statement of ethical reciprocity: "So in everything, act toward others the way you want others to act toward you."

For an excellent commentary on this sermon, see Hans Dieter Betz, The Sermon on the Mount (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1995).

When Yeshua saw the crowds, he went up the hill, and after he sat down, his students came to him. And he opened his mouth and began to teach them, and he said,

Blessings on the poor in spirit,
for theirs is heaven's kingdom.

Blessings on those who grieve,
for they will be comforted.

Blessings on the gentle,
for they will inherit the earth.

Blessings on those who hunger and thirst
for justice,
for they will be fed.

Blessings on the merciful,
for they will be treated mercifully.

Blessings on those with clean hearts,
for they will see God.

Blessings on those who work for peace,
for they will be called God’s children.

Blessings on those who are oppressed
for the sake of justice,
for theirs is heaven's kingdom.

Blessings on you
when people insult you
and oppress you
and tell all kinds of evil lies about you
on account of me.

Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward is great in the heavens.
That is how they oppressed the prophets
who came before you.

You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt becomes tasteless,
how can it become salty again?
Then it is good for nothing
except to be thrown out
and trampled by people.

You are the light of the world.
A city set on a hilltop cannot be hidden.
Nor do people light a lamp
and put it under a basket,
but on a lampstand,
and it gives light to everyone in the house.
That is how your light should shine
before people,
that they may see your good deeds 
and praise your father in the heavens.

Do not think I have come to undo the Torah or the Nevi’im.
I have come not to undo but to complete.
For in truth I tell you,
until heaven and earth fade away,
not one yodh,
not one serif will fade away from the Torah,
until everything is done.
So whoever breaks one of the smallest
of these rules,
and teaches people to do the same,
will be called the smallest
in heaven's kingdom.
But whoever does them and teaches them
will be called great
in heaven's kingdom.
For I tell you,
unless your justice is greater
than that of the scholars and Pharisees,
you will never enter heaven's kingdom.

You have heard our ancestors were told,
You must not murder,
and whoever murders
deserves judgment.
But I tell you,
everyone who is angry with a friend
deserves judgment,
and everyone who says to a friend,
You fool,
deserves the sentence of the court,
and everyone who says,
You moron,
deserves the fire of Gehenna.
So if you are offering your gift at the altar
and you recall that your friend has something against you,
leave your gift there at the altar.
First go and make peace with your friend,
and then return and offer your gift.
Come to terms quickly with your accuser
while the two of you are on the way,
or else your accuser may hand you over
to the judge,
and the judge to the officer,
and you will be thrown into prison.
In truth I tell you,
you will never get out of there
until you have paid the last coin.

You have heard people were told,
You must not commit adultery.
But I tell you,
everyone who eyes a woman and desires her
has already committed adultery with her
in the heart.
If your right eye causes you problems,
gouge it out and throw it away.
For you are better off losing one body part
than having your whole body thrown
into Gehenna.
And if your right hand causes you problems,
cut it off and throw it away.
For you are better off losing one body part
than having your whole body go
into Gehenna.

People were told,
Everyone who divorces his wife
must give her divorce papers.
But I tell you,
everyone who divorces his wife,
except for reasons of unfaithfulness,
makes her go through adultery,
and everyone who marries
a divorced woman
commits adultery.

Again, you have heard
our ancestors were told,
You must not break an oath,
but you must keep your oaths
made to the Lord.
But I tell you,
do not swear any oath,
not by heaven,
because it is God’s throne,
nor by the earth,
because it is the stool for God’s feet,
nor by Yerushalayim,
because it is the city of the great king.
And do not swear an oath by your head,
because you cannot make one hair
white or black.
Your word should be Yes yes, or No no.
Anything beyond that is from the evil one.

You have heard people were told,
An eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth.
But I tell you,
do not fight back against someone evil.
If someone slaps you on the right cheek,
turn to the person the other also.
If someone wants to sue you
and take your shirt,
let the person have your coat also.
And if someone compels you to go one mile,
go with the person a second mile.
Give to one who begs from you,
and do not refuse one
who wants to borrow from you.

You have heard people were told,
You must love your neighbor,
and you must hate your enemy.
But I tell you,
love your enemies,
and pray for those who oppress you,
that you may be children of your father
in the heavens.
Your father makes the sun rise
on the evil and the good,
and makes it rain
on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you,
what reward should you get?
Even tax collectors do as much, don’t they?
And if you greet only your friends,
what is so special about that?
Even goyim do as much, don’t they?
So be complete,
as your heavenly father is complete.

Be careful not to parade your life of justice before people,
to be noticed by them.
If you do, you will get no reward
from your father in the heavens.
So when you give to charity,
do not blow your own horn,
as phonies do in synagogues
and on the streets,
that they may be praised by people.
In truth I tell you,
they have gotten their reward.
But when you give to charity,
do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing,
that your charity may be done in secret.
And your father, who sees in secret,
will reward you.

And when you pray,
do not be like phonies.
For they love to stand and pray
in synagogues and on street corners,
that they may show off to people.
In truth I tell you,
they have gotten their reward.
When you pray,
go into your room
and close the door
and pray to your father who is in secret.
And your father, who sees in secret,
will reward you.

And when you pray,
do not ramble on and on
like the goyim,
for they think they will be heard
because they talk so much.
Do not be like them.
For your father knows what you need
before you ask.

So pray like this:
Our father in the heavens,
your name be honored,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today
our bread for the day,
and free us from our debt
as we also have freed those in debt to us.
And do not bring us to trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.

For if you free people from their faults,
your heavenly father will also free you.
But if you do not free people,
neither will your father free you
from your faults.

When you fast,
do not look downcast, like phonies.
For they put on long faces,
that they may show off their fasting
to people.
In truth I tell you,
they have gotten their reward.
When you fast,
arrange your hair and wash your face,
that you may show your fasting
not to people,
but to your father who is in secret.
And your father, who sees in secret,
will reward you.

Do not store away for yourselves
treasures on earth,
where moths and bugs devour
and where robbers break in and steal.
But store away for yourselves
treasures in heaven,
where neither moths nor bugs devour
and where robbers do not break in or steal.
For where your treasure is
your heart will also be found.

The eye is the body’s lamp.
So if your eye is healthy,
your whole body will be enlightened,
but if your eye is sick,
your whole body will be darkened.
And if the light within you is darkness,
how dark it is!

No one can serve two masters.
For a person will either hate one
and love the other,
or be loyal to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and wealth.

That is why 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.
Isn’t life more than food,
and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of heaven.
They do not plant or harvest or store
in barns,
and your heavenly father feeds them.
You are worth more than they, aren’t you?
Can any of you add an hour to your life
by worrying?
And why worry about clothing?
Observe the wild lilies,
how they do not prepare or work or spin.
But I tell you,
not even King Shlomo
at the peak of his glory
was dressed up like one of them.
If that is how God clothes the wild grass,
which is here today
and tomorrow is tossed into an oven,
how much more will God clothe you,
you who have so little trust?
So do not worry and say,
What shall we eat,
or what shall we drink,
or what shall we wear?
All this is what the goyim seek.
For your heavenly father knows
you need all this.
Seek God’s kingdom and God’s justice first,
and all this will be yours as well.
So do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow can worry about itself.
Each day’s trouble is enough for the day.

Do not judge,
that you may not be judged.
For the judgment you give
will be the judgment you get,
and the standard you use
will be the standard used on you.
Why do you see a speck in your friend’s eye,
but miss a log in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your friend,
Let me take the speck out of your eye,
when, look, there is a log in your own eye?
You phony,
first take the log out of your own eye,
and then you will be able to see well enough
to take the speck out of your friend’s eye.

Do not give what is holy to dogs,
and do not throw your pearls to pigs,
or else they may trample them underfoot
and turn and attack you.

Ask
and it will be given to you,
seek
and you will find,
knock
and the door will be opened for you.
For everyone who asks
receives,
and everyone who seeks
finds,
and for one who knocks
the door will be opened.
Or is there a person among you
who will serve a stone
if your child asks for bread?
Or will serve a snake
if your child asks for fish?
So if you, flawed as you are,
know how to give good gifts
to your children,
how much more will your father
in the heavens
give what is good to those who ask!

So in everything,
act toward others
the way you want others to act toward you.
This is the Torah and the Nevi’im.

Enter through the narrow gate.
Wide is the gate and open is the way
leading to destruction,
and there are many who enter through it.
Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way
leading to life,
and there are few who find it.

Be careful of false prophets,
who come to you in the guise of sheep
but underneath are ravenous wolves.
By what they produce
you will know what they are.
Grapes are not harvested from thorns,
are they,
or figs from thistles?
Every good tree produces fine fruit,
but a bad tree produces lousy fruit.
A good tree cannot produce lousy fruit,
nor can a bad tree produce fine fruit.
Every tree that does not produce fine fruit
is chopped down and tossed into a fire.
By what they produce, then,
you will know what they are.

Not everyone who says to me,
Master, master,
will enter heaven's kingdom,
but only one who does the will of my father in the heavens.
On that day many will say to me,
Master, master,
didn’t we prophesy in your name,
and exorcise demons in your name,
and perform many miracles in your name?
Then I shall announce to them,
I never knew you.
Get away from me,
you wrongdoers.

For everyone who listens
to these sayings of mine
and acts on them
will be like a smart person
who built a house on bedrock.
The rain fell,
the flood came,
and the wind blew
and battered that house,
but it did not collapse,
for its foundation was on bedrock.
And everyone who listens
to these sayings of mine
and does not act on them
will be like a foolish person
who built a house on sand.
The rain fell,
the flood came,
and the wind blew
and beat against that house,
and it collapsed,
and its collapse was great.

And so, when Yeshua had finished these sayings, the crowds were amazed at his teaching. For he was teaching them as a person of authority, not like their scholars.