The Book of Mormon
~AD 34

3 Nephi 13

Christ commands perfection. Alms should be given secretly. Prayer should be private. He teaches the Lord's Prayer and emphasizes forgiveness. Fasting should be done without public display. Lay up treasures in heaven, not earth. Christ tells the twelve not to worry about food or clothing—God will provide. Seek God's kingdom first.

Giving to the Poor

I want you to give to the poor. But be careful not to give in front of people just so they will see you. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you. When you give to the poor, don’t blow a trumpet in front of you. That’s what people who pretend do in the churches and on the streets. They want people to think they are great. I tell you the truth. That’s all the reward they will get. But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Keep your gifts secret. Your Father sees what you do in secret. He will reward you.

How to Pray

When you pray, don’t be like the people who pretend. They love to pray while standing in the churches and on the street corners. They want people to see them. I tell you the truth. That’s all the reward they will get. But when you pray, go into your room. Shut your door and pray to your Father in secret. Your Father sees what you do in secret. He will reward you. When you pray, don’t say the same words over and over like people who don’t know God. They think God will hear them if they say lots of words. Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

So pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name is holy. Let what you want happen on earth just like it happens in heaven. And forgive us for what we owe you, just like we forgive those who owe us. And don’t let us be tempted, but save us from evil. The kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours forever. Amen.

If you forgive people when they do wrong to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you too. But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive you.

Going Without Food to Pray

When you go without food to pray, don’t look sad like people who pretend. They make their faces look bad so others will know they are going without food. I tell you the truth. That’s all the reward they will get. But when you go without food to pray, put oil on your head and wash your face. Don’t let people know you are going without food. Let only your Father know. He sees what you do in secret. He will reward you.

Treasures in Heaven

Don’t save up treasures for yourselves on earth. Moths and rust can ruin them. Robbers can break in and steal them. Instead, save up treasures for yourselves in heaven. Moths and rust can’t ruin them there. Robbers can’t break in and steal them. Your heart will be where your treasure is.

Your eye is like a lamp for your body. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light inside you is really darkness, how dark that is! No one can serve two masters. You will hate one and love the other. Or you will follow one and not care about the other. You can’t serve both God and money.

Don’t Worry

After Jesus spoke these words, he looked at the twelve he had chosen. He said to them: Remember what I have said. You are the ones I chose to serve this people. So I tell you: Don’t worry about your life. Don’t worry about what you will eat or drink. Don’t worry about what you will wear. Isn’t life more important than food? Isn’t your body more important than clothes? Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t plant seeds. They don’t gather crops. They don’t store food in barns. But your Father in heaven feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? Can you make yourself taller by worrying about it? Why do you worry about clothes? Think about the flowers in the field. See how they grow. They don’t work or make clothes. But I tell you that King Solomon with all his riches didn’t dress as well as one of these flowers. So if God dresses the grass in the field like this, he will dress you too. The grass is here today and burned tomorrow. Won’t God take care of you if you have more faith? So don’t worry and say: What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? Your Father in heaven knows you need all these things. But put God’s kingdom first. Do what is right. Then all these things will be given to you. So don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough troubles of its own.

Influences

  • 13:1 — Matthew 6:1 (KJV)
    Take 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.
  • 13:1 — Matthew 6:1 (KJV)
    Take 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.
  • 13:2 — Matthew 6:2 (KJV)
    Therefore 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.
  • 13:2 — Matthew 6:2 (KJV)
    Therefore 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.
  • 13:3 — Matthew 6:3 (KJV)
    But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
  • 13:3 — Matthew 6:3 (KJV)
    But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
  • 13:4 — Matthew 6:4 (KJV)
    That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
  • 13:4 — Matthew 6:4 (KJV)
    That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
  • 13:5 — Matthew 6:5 (KJV)
    And 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.
  • 13:5 — Matthew 6:5 (KJV)
    And 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.
  • 13:6 — Matthew 6:6 (KJV)
    But 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.
  • 13:6 — Matthew 6:6 (KJV)
    But 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.
  • 13:7 — Matthew 6:7 (KJV)
    But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
  • 13:7 — Matthew 6:7 (KJV)
    But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
  • 13:8 — Matthew 6:8 (KJV)
    Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
  • 13:8 — Matthew 6:8 (KJV)
    Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
  • 13:9 — Matthew 6:9 (KJV)
    After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
  • 13:9 — Matthew 6:9 (KJV)
    After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
  • 13:10 — Matthew 6:10 (KJV)
    Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
  • 13:10 — Matthew 6:10 (KJV)
    Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
  • 13:11 — Matthew 6:11 (KJV)
    Give us this day our daily bread.
  • 13:11 — Matthew 6:12 (KJV)
    And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
  • 13:12 — Matthew 6:12 (KJV)
    And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
  • 13:12 — Matthew 6:13 (KJV)
    And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
  • 13:13 — Matthew 6:13 (KJV)
    And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
  • 13:13 — Matthew 6:13 (KJV)
    And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
  • 13:14 — Matthew 6:14 (KJV)
    For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
  • 13:14 — Matthew 6:14 (KJV)
    For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
  • 13:15 — Matthew 6:15 (KJV)
    But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
  • 13:15 — Matthew 6:15 (KJV)
    But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
  • 13:16 — Matthew 6:16 (KJV)
    Moreover 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.
  • 13:16 — Matthew 6:16 (KJV)
    Moreover 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.
  • 13:17 — Matthew 6:17 (KJV)
    But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
  • 13:17 — Matthew 6:17 (KJV)
    But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
  • 13:18 — Matthew 6:18 (KJV)
    That 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.
  • 13:18 — Matthew 6:18 (KJV)
    That 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.
  • 13:19 — Matthew 6:19 (KJV)
    Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
  • 13:19 — Matthew 6:19 (KJV)
    Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
  • 13:20 — Matthew 6:20 (KJV)
    But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
  • 13:20 — Matthew 6:20 (KJV)
    But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
  • 13:21 — Matthew 6:21 (KJV)
    For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
  • 13:21 — Matthew 6:21 (KJV)
    For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
  • 13:22 — Matthew 6:22 (KJV)
    The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
  • 13:22 — Matthew 6:22 (KJV)
    The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
  • 13:23 — Matthew 6:23 (KJV)
    But 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!
  • 13:23 — Matthew 6:23 (KJV)
    But 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!
  • 13:24 — Matthew 6:24 (KJV)
    No 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.
  • 13:24 — Matthew 6:24 (KJV)
    No 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.
  • 13:25 — Matthew 6:25 (KJV)
    Therefore 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?
  • 13:25 — Matthew 6:25 (KJV)
    Therefore 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?
  • 13:26 — Matthew 6:26 (KJV)
    Behold 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?
  • 13:26 — Matthew 6:26 (KJV)
    Behold 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?
  • 13:27 — Matthew 6:27 (KJV)
    Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
  • 13:27 — Matthew 6:27 (KJV)
    Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
  • 13:28 — Matthew 6:28 (KJV)
    And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
  • 13:28 — Matthew 6:28 (KJV)
    And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
  • 13:29 — Matthew 6:29 (KJV)
    And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
  • 13:29 — Matthew 6:29 (KJV)
    And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
  • 13:30 — Matthew 6:30 (KJV)
    Wherefore, 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?
  • 13:30 — Matthew 6:30 (KJV)
    Wherefore, 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?
  • 13:31 — Matthew 6:31 (KJV)
    Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
  • 13:31 — Matthew 6:31 (KJV)
    Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
  • 13:32 — Matthew 6:32 (KJV)
    (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
  • 13:32 — Matthew 6:32 (KJV)
    (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
  • 13:33 — Matthew 6:33 (KJV)
    But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
  • 13:33 — Matthew 6:33 (KJV)
    But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
  • 13:34 — Matthew 6:34 (KJV)
    Take 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.
  • 13:34 — Matthew 6:34 (KJV)
    Take 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.
3 Nephi 123 Nephi 14