Matius 6:24-25

6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate ¹  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise ²  the other. You cannot serve God and money. ³ 

Do Not Worry

6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry ⁴  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?

[6:24]  ¹ sn The contrast between hate and love here is rhetorical. The point is that one will choose the favorite if a choice has to be made.

[6:24]  ² tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”

[6:24]  ³ tn Grk “God and mammon.”

[6:24]  sn The term money is used to translate mammon, the Aramaic term for wealth or possessions. The point is not that money is inherently evil, but that it is often misused so that it is a means of evil; see 1 Tim 6:6-10, 17-19. God must be first, not money or possessions.

[6:25]  ⁴ tn Or “do not be anxious,” and so throughout the rest of this paragraph.