# 3 Nephi 13

*Paraphrase*

### Give in Secret

I want you to help the poor. But be careful—don’t do it in front of crowds to get their applause. If you do, you’ll get no reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t announce it like hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, hoping everyone will praise them. I’m telling you the truth: that applause is all the reward they’ll get. When you give, do it so quietly that your left hand doesn’t even know what your right hand is doing. Keep your giving secret. Your Father sees what you do in secret, and he’ll reward you.

### Pray in Private

When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and on street corners so everyone can see them praying. I’m telling you the truth: that’s all the reward they’ll get. When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in private. Your Father sees what you do in secret, and he’ll reward you.

When you pray, don’t babble on and on like people who don’t know God. They think they’ll be heard because they use a lot of words. Don’t be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask.

### The Lord’s Prayer

So pray like this: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And forgive us our wrongs, just as we forgive those who wrong us. Don’t let us be led into temptation, but rescue us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.“

If you forgive others when they wrong you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father won’t forgive you either.

### Fast Without Show

When you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites do. They make themselves look miserable so everyone will know they’re fasting. I’m telling you the truth: that’s all the reward they’ll get. When you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Don’t fast to impress people. Fast for your Father, who sees what you do in secret. He’ll reward you.

### Treasures in Heaven

Don’t pile up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Instead, pile up treasures in heaven, where moths and rust can’t destroy them, and thieves can’t break in and steal. Your heart will always be where your treasure is.

Your eye is like a lamp for your body. When your eye is clear and focused, your whole body is full of light. But when your eye is clouded, your whole body is full of darkness. If the light inside you is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

No one can serve two masters. You’ll end up hating one and loving the other, or being devoted to one and despising the other. You can’t serve both God and money.

### Don’t Worry

After Jesus said this, he looked at the twelve disciples he’d chosen and told them: “Remember what I’ve just said. You’re the ones I’ve chosen to serve these people. So I’m telling you: don’t worry about your life—what you’ll eat or drink—or about your body and what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds. They don’t plant seeds or harvest crops or store food in barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth far more than they are? Can any of you add a single hour to your life by worrying about it?

And why worry about clothes? Look at how the wildflowers grow. They don’t work or make clothing. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. So if God clothes the grass in the field—which is here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow—won’t he clothe you? You have so little faith.

So don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ Your heavenly Father already knows you need all these things.

Put God’s kingdom and his righteousness first, and all these things will be given to you as well. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/3-nephi/13)*
