The Sermon on the Mount (KJV) — Matthew 5–7
All 111 verses of the sermon in the King James Version, ready to read or print, laid out in its own sections rather than as a wall of text. Jump to the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer, the lilies of the field, the Golden Rule or the two builders— or read straight through from Matthew 5:1.
Matthew 5–7, King James Version
The section headings below are not in the King James text — they mark where the sermon turns. Every verse from Matthew 5:1 to Matthew 7:29 is here in order.
Matthew 5 · 48 verses
The setting · Matthew 5:1-2
1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
The Beatitudes · Matthew 5:3-12
The Beatitudes explained, one “Blessed are…” at a time→3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Salt and light · Matthew 5:13-16
13Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
The law and the prophets fulfilled · Matthew 5:17-20
17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Anger, and settling with your brother · Matthew 5:21-26
21Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22But 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.
23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
25Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
26Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Adultery in the heart · Matthew 5:27-30
27Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
29And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Divorce · Matthew 5:31-32
31It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Oaths — swear not at all · Matthew 5:33-37
33Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
34But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
35Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
36Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
37But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
An eye for an eye — turn the other cheek · Matthew 5:38-42
38Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
Love your enemies · Matthew 5:43-48
43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 6 · 34 verses
Alms in secret · Matthew 6:1-4
1Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
How to pray · Matthew 6:5-8
5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6But 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.
7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
The Lord's Prayer · Matthew 6:9-13
The Lord's Prayer walked through petition by petition→9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Forgive men their trespasses · Matthew 6:14-15
14For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Fasting · Matthew 6:16-18
16Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Treasures in heaven · Matthew 6:19-21
19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The single eye, and two masters · Matthew 6:22-24
22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Take no thought — the fowls and the lilies · Matthew 6:25-34
25Therefore 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?
26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Matthew 7 · 29 verses
Judge not — the mote and the beam · Matthew 7:1-5
1Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Pearls before swine · Matthew 7:6
6Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Ask, seek, knock · Matthew 7:7-11
7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
The Golden Rule · Matthew 7:12
12Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
The strait gate · Matthew 7:13-14
13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
False prophets, known by their fruits · Matthew 7:15-20
15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord · Matthew 7:21-23
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
The wise and foolish builders · Matthew 7:24-27
24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
The people were astonished · Matthew 7:28-29
28And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
King James Version — public domain. biblegarden.net/sermon-on-the-mount
The Passages People Look Up
Three parts of the sermon are searched for by name far more often than the rest. Two of them have a page of their own here; the third is a single verse.
The eight blessings that open the sermon, from the poor in spirit to the persecuted, each pairing a group nobody would call fortunate with the promise made to them.
The prayer Jesus gives as a pattern in the middle of the sermon — five petitions and, in the King James text, the doxology that closes verse 13.
12Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Jesus attaches the whole weight of scripture to it — “for this is the law and the prophets” — and the opening “therefore” ties it to the Father who gives good things in the verses above it. Luke has the same saying in his sermon (Luke 6:31). The name itself is a later English label: it is not in the Bible.
The Sermon Section by Section
The same 27 sections as the text above, each with a note on what it says and where it sits in the argument. Every heading links back to the King James text of that section.
Matthew 5
The Beatitudes, salt and light, and six commandments pressed inward — to anger, to the look, to the oath, to the enemy.
Two verses of stage direction, and each detail is doing work. Jesus sees the multitudes and goes up into a mountain; he sits down, which is the posture of a teacher rather than a street preacher; his disciples come to him, so the sermon is addressed to them with the crowd within earshot. Matthew notes at the end that the crowd heard all of it (7:28).
Eight blessings, each naming a group nobody would call fortunate — the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek, the persecuted — and the reversal promised to them. The first and the eighth close with the same promise, “theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” framing the rest. Verses 11-12 then shift from “they” to “ye” and hand the last blessing to the hearers directly.
The people just called blessed are told what they already are: the salt of the earth, the light of the world, a city set on an hill that cannot be hid. The instruction is not to shine but to let the light shine — and the end of it is not their own credit but that men “glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Before pressing a single commandment, Jesus states his relation to the law: not to destroy but to fulfil, with not one jot or tittle passing till all is fulfilled. Verse 20 sets the standard the next six sections measure against — a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees.
The first of six sayings built on the same frame: “ye have heard that it was said… but I say unto you.” The commandment against killing is pressed inward, to anger and to contempt — “Raca,” “Thou fool” — and then straight back outward into an errand: leave your gift at the altar and go be reconciled first.
The second saying traces the act back to the look. The remedy is put in deliberately violent terms — the right eye plucked out, the right hand cut off — on the reasoning that losing one member is better than losing the whole body.
The third saying, and the shortest. The writing of divorcement conceded in Deuteronomy 24:1 is narrowed to a single cause. Jesus returns to the question at length, and to the same exception, in Matthew 19:3-9.
The fourth saying. Rather than regulate which oaths bind, Jesus removes the machinery altogether: heaven, earth, Jerusalem and your own head are all outside your control, so let your communication be “Yea, yea; Nay, nay.” James repeats the instruction almost word for word (James 5:12).
The fifth saying. “An eye for an eye” was itself a limit on revenge; here the limit becomes a refusal — the other cheek, the cloak as well as the coat, the second mile, the loan not turned away. Every example is concrete: a blow, a lawsuit, a soldier's requisition, a request for money.
The sixth and last of the sayings, and the one the others build toward. The ground given is not that enemies deserve it but that God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good” — loving those who love you back is what everyone already does. The chapter ends on “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
Matthew 6
Alms, prayer and fasting done in secret; the Lord's Prayer; treasure and mammon; and take no thought for the morrow.
Chapter 6 turns from what you do to who you are watching while you do it. Three religious duties get the same treatment — alms here, prayer next, fasting after — each with the same warning about hypocrites who already have their reward, and the same promise about “thy Father which seeth in secret.”
Not the closet instead of the synagogue as such, but the shut door instead of the street corner where you can be seen. The second half warns against vain repetitions on the grounds that your Father “knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” — which is the setup for the short prayer that follows.
Given as a pattern rather than a formula — “after this manner therefore pray ye” — in five short petitions: the name hallowed, the kingdom come, the daily bread, the debts forgiven as we forgive, and deliverance from evil. The closing doxology, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever,” stands in the King James text at the end of verse 13.
The one petition Jesus stops to explain, and he explains it twice — once positively, once negatively. The clause “as we forgive our debtors” is not a figure of speech.
The third duty, handled like the first two: anoint your head and wash your face so that nobody can tell. Note the opening word — “when ye fast,” not if.
Moth, rust and thieves are the argument, and the conclusion is about the heart rather than the money: “for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Two images of undivided attention — an eye that is single filling the whole body with light, and a servant who cannot hold to two masters at once. Mammon, an Aramaic word for wealth, is left untranslated in the King James and named outright as the rival.
“Take no thought” is 1611 English for anxious care, not for carelessness, and the passage argues rather than soothes: look at the birds, which are fed; look at the lilies, arrayed better than Solomon; and ask what worrying has ever added. It lands on the instruction the chapter has been heading toward — “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.”
Matthew 7
Judge not; ask, and it shall be given you; the Golden Rule; the strait gate; and the houses built on rock and on sand.
The measure you use is the measure you get back. The illustration is not a ban on noticing: the man with the beam in his own eye is told to take it out first, “and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.”
One verse, and the counterweight to the five before it — some discernment about people is required after all.
Three verbs, three promises, then the argument underneath them: if a human father hands his son bread rather than a stone, how much more the Father in heaven.
A single verse, and Jesus hangs the whole weight of scripture on it: “for this is the law and the prophets.” The opening “therefore” ties it to the Father who gives good things in the verses just above. Luke records the same saying in his sermon (Luke 6:31). The name “Golden Rule” is a later English label — it appears nowhere in the Bible.
“Strait” means narrow, not straight — a tight gate, not a direct road. From here to the end of the sermon everything arrives in twos: two gates, two trees, two claims, two houses.
Sheep's clothing outside, ravening wolves within — and the test offered is not the claim but the crop. Men do not gather grapes of thorns.
The hardest lines in the sermon, and they are aimed at people doing religious work in his name — prophesying, casting out devils, many wonderful works. The hinge is the one the sermon has used throughout: “he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
The closing parable is about this sermon: whosoever heareth these sayings of mine “and doeth them” is the man who built on rock. The rain, the floods and the winds come to both houses. Only the foundation is different.
Matthew's own note on the effect, and the proof that the multitudes had been listening all along. The reason he gives is authority: “he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
The Mount, and Luke’s Plain
Matthew gives the setting in half a verse: seeing the multitudes, Jesus “went up into a mountain,” and when he was set his disciples came to him. The mountain is never named. Because the chapters around it place his ministry at Capernaum and along the Sea of Galilee, tradition puts the sermon on the hillside above the lake’s north-west shore — but that is tradition filling in a blank the gospel leaves open.
Luke records a sermon that covers much of the same ground in about a third of the length, and he is careful about where it happened: Jesus “came down with them, and stood in the plain” (Luke 6:17). His version opens with four blessings instead of eight, spoken directly to the hearers — “Blessed be ye poor” — and then adds four woes that Matthew has nothing to match: woe to the rich, the full, those who laugh now, and those of whom all men speak well.
What the two share is substantial: loving enemies, judging, the mote and the beam, the tree known by its fruit, and the closing parable of the two houses. Much of the rest of Matthew’s sermon turns up scattered elsewhere in Luke — the Lord’s Prayer, for instance, comes at Luke 11:2-4, in answer to a disciple who asks to be taught how to pray. Whether the two accounts report one occasion or two is an old question the texts do not settle.
Read the Three Chapters in Full
Each chapter of the sermon has its own page here, with the King James text and the WEB and ASV translations beside it.
- Matthew 5KJV →The Beatitudes, salt and light, and six commandments pressed inward — to anger, to the look, to the oath, to the enemy.
- Matthew 6KJV →Alms, prayer and fasting done in secret; the Lord's Prayer; treasure and mammon; and take no thought for the morrow.
- Matthew 7KJV →Judge not; ask, and it shall be given you; the Golden Rule; the strait gate; and the houses built on rock and on sand.
Where the Sermon Turns Up Elsewhere
Luke’s parallels, and two places where the letters repeat the sermon’s hardest instructions as plain practice.
The opening of Luke's shorter parallel, the Sermon on the Plain — four blessings rather than eight, addressed as “ye” from the start, and followed by four matching woes.
Luke 6:20The Golden Rule as Luke records it, in the middle of the same sermon and without Matthew's closing clause about the law and the prophets.
Luke 6:31The Lord's Prayer outside the sermon: in Luke it is given later, in a different place, in answer to a disciple who asks to be taught how to pray.
Luke 11:2Paul takes up Matthew 5:44 in four words. The sermon's hardest instruction turns up in the letters as ordinary Christian practice.
Romans 12:14The teaching on oaths repeated almost verbatim — “swear not… but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay” — one of many places where James reads like the sermon in letter form.
James 5:12A verse a day
Verse of the Day (KJV)
One King James verse each day, with a short note on the passage it comes from and a link straight to the full chapter. It changes at midnight.
Read today’s verse →Recommended reading
KJV study & journaling Bibles
Everything on this page is free to read. If you want the sermon in print — with notes on the chapters it sits in, or margins wide enough to write in — these are the two King James editions worth knowing about.
KJV Study Bible
Thomas Nelson, Holman and other editions
The King James text with study notes and book introductions — useful across Matthew 5-7, where a single verse often turns on a first-century detail (a farthing, an oath, mammon, the strait gate).
KJV Journaling Bible
Wide-margin and notetaking editions
Ruled margins beside the King James text — room enough to work through the sermon a section at a time over three sittings.
As an Amazon Associate this site earns from qualifying purchases. Links are sponsored. Compare the best KJV study & journaling Bibles →
Keep Exploring
Read the sermon in its setting in the Gospel of Matthew, take the two set pieces on their own in the Beatitudes and the Lord’s Prayer, or follow Matthew 6:25-34 through the rest of scripture in Bible verses about worry. A verse each morning arrives with the verse of the day, and every subject on the site is listed in the Topics index.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Sermon on the Mount?
The Sermon on the Mount is the longest block of Jesus' teaching in the gospels — three chapters, Matthew 5 through Matthew 7, delivered on a mountainside to his disciples with the multitudes listening. It opens with the Beatitudes (“Blessed are the poor in spirit…”), calls the hearers salt and light, and presses six commandments inward with the refrain “ye have heard that it was said… but I say unto you.” It then turns to alms, prayer — including the Lord's Prayer — and fasting done in secret, to treasure and mammon and worry, and closes with judging, the Golden Rule, the strait gate, false prophets, and the parable of the two builders.
Where is the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible?
Matthew 5:1 to Matthew 7:29 — the whole of Matthew 5, 6 and 7, with no break in the teaching from the first verse to the last. Luke records a shorter parallel, usually called the Sermon on the Plain, at Luke 6:17-49.
How long is the Sermon on the Mount?
111 verses in the King James Version: 48 in Matthew 5, 34 in Matthew 6 and 29 in Matthew 7. Matthew presents it as one continuous discourse, and it is the first of the five great blocks of teaching in his gospel.
What does the Sermon on the Mount teach?
That the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit rather than the impressive, and that the law reaches past behaviour into the heart — anger as well as murder, the look as well as the act, the plain word instead of the oath, love extended to enemies. It then makes the audience the issue: give, pray and fast for God rather than for onlookers. Finally it asks where your trust actually sits — in treasure that moth and rust corrupt, or in a Father who feeds the birds — and ends by insisting that hearing the sermon is not the same as doing it. The two builders differ only in what they built on.
Where is the Lord's Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount?
Matthew 6:9-13, in the middle chapter, immediately after the instruction to pray behind a shut door rather than on a street corner. In the King James Version it begins “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name” and closes with the doxology “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
What is the Golden Rule in the Sermon on the Mount?
Matthew 7:12: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Luke records the same saying at Luke 6:31. The name “Golden Rule” is a later English label for the verse and appears nowhere in the Bible.
Where was the Sermon on the Mount preached?
Matthew says only that Jesus “went up into a mountain” (5:1) and never names it. Since the surrounding chapters place his ministry around Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee, tradition locates the sermon on the hillside above the lake's north-west shore, where a church called the Mount of Beatitudes stands today — but that identification comes from later tradition, not from the text.
What is the difference between the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain?
Luke 6:17-49 covers much of the same ground in about a third of the length, and Luke is explicit that Jesus “came down with them, and stood in the plain.” Luke gives four blessings rather than eight, addresses them directly as “Blessed be ye poor,” and follows them with four woes that Matthew has no counterpart to. Both sermons include loving your enemies, judging, the mote and the beam, the tree known by its fruit and the two builders; other Matthew material appears elsewhere in Luke, including the Lord's Prayer at Luke 11:2-4.