Matthew 6:23 - An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

²³ But if your eye sees things wrongly, [then] your whole body [i.e., your entire life] will be full of darkness [i.e., will not be lived properly]. If therefore, the light you have is [really] darkness [i.e., if you are not seeing life properly], that darkness will be very great [i.e., you cannot possibly live properly].

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

²³ 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!

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

²³ But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!

American Standard Version (1901)

²³ 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 the darkness!

Common English Bible

²³ But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how terrible that darkness will be!

Catholic Public Domain Version

²³ But if your eye has been corrupted, your entire body will be darkened. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great will that darkness be!

Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version

²³ But if thy eye be evil thy whole body shall be darksome. If then the light that is in thee, be darkness: the darkness itself how great shall it be!

Matthew 6:23 Cross References

Matthew 20:15

Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my own money? Or, is it that your eye is envious because I choose to be so generous?’

Matthew 6:22

Your eye is [like] a lamp to your body [i.e., your life]. If your eye sees things correctly, [then] your whole body [i.e., your entire life] will be illuminated [i.e., be directed into proper conduct].

Mark 7:22

greedy desires, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained indecency, envy, slander, arrogance and foolishness.

Luke 11:34

Your eye is [like] a lamp to your body [i.e., your life]. When your eye sees things correctly, [then] your whole body [i.e., your entire life] is illuminated [i.e., directed into proper conduct]. But when it sees things wrongly, [then] your body [i.e., your life] is also full of darkness [i.e., is not being lived properly].

Luke 8:10

And He said to them, “You [disciples] are being given an understanding of the secrets of the kingdom of God, but the rest of the people [are being told] in parables, so that [even though they appear to be] seeing, they will not [actually] see; and [even though they seem to] hear, they will not understand.

Romans 1:22

They claimed to be wise, but became fools,

1 Corinthians 2:14

Now the natural person [Note: Since this person is contrasted with the spiritual person of verse 15, it is taken here to mean the person without the Holy Spirit] does not receive the things [i.e., truths] revealed by the Holy Spirit of God, because they are [considered] foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them because they must be discerned by using spiritual judgment [i.e., judgment aided by the Holy Spirit].

Ephesians 4:18

Their understanding [of spiritual things] is darkened and excluded from the [spiritual] life that God gives, because of the ignorance in their minds and the stubbornness in their hearts.

Ephesians 5:8

for you people were once darkness [i.e., when living in sin], but now you are light in [fellowship with] the Lord. [So], live like people who belong to light [i.e., who live godly lives],

1 John 2:11

But the person who hates his brother is in the darkness [of sin] and he lives in [harmony with] that darkness, and he does not know where he is heading, because the darkness [of sin] has blinded his eyes [to his spiritual condition].