Matthew 6:23 (ASV)

Passage

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!

Nearby Context

Matthew 6:21 for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.

Matthew 6:22 The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

Matthew 6:23 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!

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "darkness", "thine", "evil", "whole", "body", "shall", and "full". It is saying that the contrast between light and darkness marks a real divide in how people respond to God's work.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "The lamp of the body is the..." into verse 24's "No man can serve two masters for...", so "light" and "darkness" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "light" and "darkness" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.