Matthew 5:13-17 (MSG)
13 "Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning
that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness,
how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end
up in the garbage. 14 "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light,
bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're
going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. 15 If I make you
light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you?
I'm putting you on a light stand. 16 Now that I've put you there on a hilltop,
on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives.
By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this
generous Father in heaven. 17 "Don't suppose for a minute that I have
come to demolish the Scriptures—either God's Law or the Prophets.
I'm not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all
together, pull it all together in a vast panorama.
Matthew 5:13-17 (TLB)
13 "You are the world’s seasoning, to make it tolerable.
If you lose your flavor, what will happen to the world? And you
yourselves will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
14 You are the world’s light—a city on a hill, glowing in the night
for all to see. 15 Don’t hide your light! 16 Let it shine for all;
let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father. 17
"Don’t misunderstand why I have come—it isn’t to cancel the
laws of Moses and the warnings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them
and to make them all come true.
