earthly rewards

¹⁹Do not choose to store up for yourselves treasures on earth: where rust and moth consume, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰Instead, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither rust nor moth consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there also is your heart.

²³Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as for the Lord, and not for men. ²⁴For you know that you will receive from the Lord the repayment of an inheritance. Serve Christ the Lord.

¹“Pay attention, lest you perform your justice before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you shall not have a reward with your Father, who is in heaven. ²Therefore, when you give alms, do not choose to sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the towns, so that they may be honored by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. ³But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your almsgiving may be in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.

¹²be glad and exult, for your reward in heaven is plentiful. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹²But if anyone builds upon this foundation, whether gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble, ¹³each one’s work shall be made manifest. For the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it will be revealed by fire. And this fire will test each one’s work, as to what kind it is. ¹⁴If anyone’s work, which he has built upon it, remains, then he will receive a reward. ¹⁵If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer its loss, but he himself will still be saved, but only as through fire.

²⁴By faith, Moses, after growing up, denied himself a place as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵choosing to be afflicted with the people of God, rather than to have the pleasantness of sin for a time, ²⁶valuing the reproach of Christ to be a greater wealth than the treasures of the Egyptians. For he looked forward to his reward.

¹⁷Instruct the wealthy of this age not to have a superior attitude, nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who offers us everything in abundance to enjoy, ¹⁸and to do good, to become rich in good works, to donate readily, to share, ¹⁹to gather for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may obtain true life.

¹²Then he also said to the one who had invited him: “When you prepare a lunch or dinner, do not choose to call your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or your wealthy neighbors, lest perhaps they might then invite you in return and repayment would made to you. ¹³But when you prepare a feast, call the poor, the disabled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴And you will be blessed because they do not have a way to repay you. So then, your recompense will be in the resurrection of the just.”

²⁹And anyone who has left behind home, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for the sake of my name, shall receive one hundred times more, and shall possess eternal life.

¹⁸The impious does work with inconstancy. But for the sower of justice, there is the reward of faithfulness.

³⁵So truly, love your enemies. Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and to the wicked.

¹⁰For it is necessary for us to be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive the proper things of the body, according to his behavior, whether it was good or evil.

¹²“Behold, I am approaching quickly! And my repayment is with me, to render to each one according to his works.

²¹Jesus said to him: “If you are willing to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.”

³³Sell what you possess, and give alms. Make for yourselves purses that will not wear out, a treasure that will not fall short, in heaven, where no thief approaches, and no moth corrupts. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

²⁴Yet truly, woe to you who are wealthy, for you have your consolation. ²⁵Woe to you who are satisfied, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

⁴Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence. ⁵Do not raise your eyes toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will fly in the sky.

²⁶For how does it benefit a man, if he gains the whole world, yet truly suffers damage to his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?