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20 [a]And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,[b]
    for the kingdom of God is yours.
21 Blessed are you who are now hungry,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
    for you will laugh.(A)
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
    and when they exclude and insult you,
    and denounce your name as evil
    on account of the Son of Man.(B)

23 Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.(C)

24 But woe to you who are rich,
    for you have received your consolation.(D)
25 But woe to you who are filled now,
    for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
    for you will grieve and weep.(E)
26 Woe to you when all speak well of you,
    for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.(F)

Love of Enemies.[c] 27 (G)“But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,(H) 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.(I) 29 To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.(J) 32 For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit [is] that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount.(K) 35 But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.(L) 36 Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful.

Judging Others.[d] 37 (M)“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.(N) 38 Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”(O) 39 And he told them a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?(P) 40 No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.(Q) 41 Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.

A Tree Known by Its Fruit.(R) 43 [e]“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. 45 A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.

The Two Foundations. 46 (S)“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command? 47 [f]I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them.(T) 48 That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. 49 But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”

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Footnotes

  1. 6:20–49 Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain” is the counterpart to Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt 5:1–7:27). It is addressed to the disciples of Jesus, and, like the sermon in Matthew, it begins with beatitudes (Lk 6:20–22) and ends with the parable of the two houses (Lk 6:46–49). Almost all the words of Jesus reported by Luke are found in Matthew’s version, but because Matthew includes sayings that were related to specifically Jewish Christian problems (e.g., Mt 5:17–20; 6:1–8, 16–18) that Luke did not find appropriate for his predominantly Gentile Christian audience, the “Sermon on the Mount” is considerably longer. Luke’s sermon may be outlined as follows: an introduction consisting of blessings and woes (Lk 6:20–26); the love of one’s enemies (Lk 6:27–36); the demands of loving one’s neighbor (Lk 6:37–42); good deeds as proof of one’s goodness (Lk 6:43–45); a parable illustrating the result of listening to and acting on the words of Jesus (Lk 6:46–49). At the core of the sermon is Jesus’ teaching on the love of one’s enemies (Lk 6:27–36) that has as its source of motivation God’s graciousness and compassion for all humanity (Lk 6:35–36) and Jesus’ teaching on the love of one’s neighbor (Lk 6:37–42) that is characterized by forgiveness and generosity.
  2. 6:20–26 The introductory portion of the sermon consists of blessings and woes that address the real economic and social conditions of humanity (the poor—the rich; the hungry—the satisfied; those grieving—those laughing; the outcast—the socially acceptable). By contrast, Matthew emphasizes the religious and spiritual values of disciples in the kingdom inaugurated by Jesus (“poor in spirit,” Mt 5:3; “hunger and thirst for righteousness,” Mt 5:6). In the sermon, blessed extols the fortunate condition of persons who are favored with the blessings of God; the woes, addressed as they are to the disciples of Jesus, threaten God’s profound displeasure on those so blinded by their present fortunate situation that they do not recognize and appreciate the real values of God’s kingdom. In all the blessings and woes, the present condition of the persons addressed will be reversed in the future.
  3. 6:27–36 See notes on Mt 5:43–48 and Mt 5:48.
  4. 6:37–42 See notes on Mt 7:1–12; 7:1; 7:5.
  5. 6:43–46 See notes on Mt 7:15–20 and 12:33.
  6. 6:47–49 See note on Mt 7:24–27.