Matthew 6:18
◄  Matthew 6:18  ►
New International Version (©2011)
so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

New Living Translation (©2007)
Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

English Standard Version (©2001)
that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
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.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
so that you don't show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

International Standard Version (©2012)
so that your fasting will not be noticed by others but by your Father who is in the hidden place. And your Father who watches from the hidden place will reward you."

NET Bible (©2006)
so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)
So that you may not appear to the children of men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Then your fasting won't be obvious. Instead, it will be obvious to your Father who is with you in private. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
That you appear not unto men to fast, but unto your Father who is in secret: and your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you openly.

American King James Version
That you appear not to men to fast, but to your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.

American Standard Version
that thou be not seen of men to fast, but of thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall recompense thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
That thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee.

Darby Bible Translation
so that thou mayest not appear fasting unto men, but to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret shall render it to thee.

English Revised Version
that thou be not seen of men to fast, but of thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall recompense thee.

Webster's Bible Translation
That thou mayest not appear to men to fast, but to thy Father, who is in secret: and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Weymouth New Testament
that it may not be apparent to men that you are fasting, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father--He who sees in secret--will recompense you.

World English Bible
so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Young's Literal Translation
that thou mayest not appear to men fasting, but to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father, who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:16-18 Religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, but it is not so much a duty itself, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Fasting is the humbling of the soul, Ps 35:13; that is the inside of the duty; let that, therefore, be thy principal care, and as to the outside of it, covet not to let it be seen. God sees in secret, and will reward openly.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - Which is in secret (τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυφαίῳ); ver. 6, note. Shall reward thee openly (ver. 4, note).

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

That thou appear not unto men to fast,.... Which is just the reverse of the hypocrites, the Scribes and Pharisees; and quite contrary to the customs of the Jews, who when they fasted, particularly on their noted fasts (l),

"brought out the ark into the street of the city, and put burnt ashes upon it, and upon the head of the prince, and upon the head of the president of the sanhedrim, and every man upon his own head.''

All which was done, to be seen of men to fast; but Christ directs to such sorts of fasting, and which is to be done in such a manner, as only to be seen by God:

but unto thy Father which is in secret; who is invisible, and who sees what is done in secret, and takes notice of the internal exercise of grace; which he approves of, and prefers to outward fastings; and

thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly: and to have honour from God, is infinitely more than to have the applause of men; for as God delights in, so he will reward his own grace with glory.

(l) Misn. Taanith, c. 2. sect. 1.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. 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—The "openly" seems evidently a later addition to the text of this verse from Mt 6:4, 7, though of course the idea is implied.

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Proper Fasting
16Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Truly I say to you, They have their reward. 17But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; 18That you appear not to men to fast, but to your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.

Matthew 6:4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.