Matthew 5:18

5:18 I ¹  tell you the truth, ²  until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter ³  will pass from the law until everything takes place.

Matthew 6:2

6:2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, ⁴  do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues ⁵  and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, ⁶  they have their reward.

Matthew 6:5

Private Prayer

6:5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues ⁷  and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.

Matthew 6:16

Proper Fasting

6:16 “When ⁸  you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive ⁹  so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, ¹⁰  they have their reward.

Matthew 10:23

10:23 Whenever ¹¹  they persecute you in one place, ¹²  flee to another. I tell you the truth, ¹³  you will not finish going through all the towns ¹⁴  of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Matthew 10:42

10:42 And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, ¹⁵  he will never lose his reward.”

Matthew 11:11

11:11 “I tell you the truth, ¹⁶  among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least ¹⁷  in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.

Matthew 13:17

13:17 For I tell you the truth, ¹⁸  many prophets and righteous people longed to see ¹⁹  what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Matthew 16:28

16:28 I tell you the truth, ²⁰  there are some standing here who will not ²¹  experience ²²  death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” ²³ 

Matthew 17:20

17:20 He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, ²⁴  if you have faith the size of ²⁵  a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing ²⁶  will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 18:18-19

18:18 “I tell you the truth, ²⁷  whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven. 18:19 Again, I tell you the truth, ²⁸  if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. ²⁹ 

Matthew 24:2

24:2 And he said to them, ³⁰  “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, ³¹  not one stone will be left on another. ³²  All will be torn down!” ³³ 

[5:18]  ¹ tn Grk “For I tell.” Here an explanatory γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[5:18]  ² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[5:18]  ³ tn Grk “Not one iota or one serif.”

[6:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “give alms,” but this term is not in common use today. The giving of alms was highly regarded in the ancient world (Deut 15:7-11).

[6:2]  ⁵ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[6:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[6:5]  ⁷ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[6:16]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[6:16]  ¹¹ tn Here the term “disfigure” used in a number of translations was not used because it could convey to the modern reader the notion of mutilation. L&N 79.17 states, “‘to make unsightly, to disfigure, to make ugly.’ ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ‘for they make their faces unsightly’ Mt 6:16.”

[6:16]  ¹² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:23]  ¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:23]  ¹⁴ tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.”

[10:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amhn) I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.

[10:23]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.” “Town” was chosen here to emphasize the extensive nature of the disciples’ ministry. The same word is translated earlier in the verse as “place.”

[10:42]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[11:11]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[11:11]  ²⁰ sn After John comes a shift of eras. The new era is so great that the lowest member of it (the one who is least in the kingdom of God) is greater than the greatest one of the previous era.

[13:17]  ²² tn Grk “truly (ἀμήν, amhn) I say to you.”

[13:17]  ²³ sn This is what past prophets and righteous people had wanted very much to see, yet the fulfillment had come to the disciples. This remark is like 1 Pet 1:10-12 or Heb 1:1-2.

[16:28]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[16:28]  ²⁶ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[16:28]  ²⁷ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[16:28]  ²⁸ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the Son of Man coming in his kingdom: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Christ’s role in the Church; (5) the destruction of Jerusalem; (6) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to six days later in 17:1 seems to indicate that Matthew had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration would be a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (in vv. 21-23), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.

[17:20]  ²⁸ tn Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[17:20]  ²⁹ tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”

[17:20]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[18:18]  ³¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:19]  ³⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:19]  ³⁵ tn Grk “if two of you…agree about whatever they ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the pronouns, which change from second person plural to third person plural in the Greek text, have been consistently translated as second person plural.

[24:2]  ³⁷ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (ajpokriqei") is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[24:2]  ³⁸ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[24:2]  ³⁹ sn With the statement not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in a.d. 70.

[24:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”