Matthew 6:26 (ASV)

Passage

Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they?

Nearby Context

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?

Matthew 6:26 Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they?

Matthew 6:27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?

Matthew 6:28 And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "behold", "birds", "heaven", "neither", "reap", "gather", "barns", and "heavenly". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "behold" and "birds", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 25's "Therefore I say unto you be not..." into verse 27's "And which of you by being anxious...", so "behold" and "birds" 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 "behold" and "birds" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.