Matthew 6:23 (DBY)

Passage

but if thine eye be wicked, thy whole body will be dark. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great the darkness!

Nearby Context

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

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

Matthew 6:23 but if thine eye be wicked, thy whole body will be dark. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great the darkness!

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

Matthew 6:25 For this cause I say unto you, Do not be careful about your life, what ye should eat and what ye should drink; nor for your body what ye should put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than raiment?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "darkness", "thine", "wicked", "whole", "body", "therefore", and "thee". 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 one 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.