Matthew 6:5 (YLT)

Passage

`And when thou mayest pray, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites, because they love in the synagogues, and in the corners of the broad places--standing--to pray, that they may be seen of men; verily I say to you, that they have their reward.

Nearby Context

Matthew 6:3 `But thou, doing kindness, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth,

Matthew 6:4 that thy kindness may be in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret Himself shall reward thee manifestly.

Matthew 6:5 `And when thou mayest pray, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites, because they love in the synagogues, and in the corners of the broad places--standing--to pray, that they may be seen of men; verily I say to you, that they have their reward.

Matthew 6:6 `But thou, when thou mayest pray, go into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who <FI>is<Fi> in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly.

Matthew 6:7 `And--praying--ye may not use vain repetitions like the nations, for they think that in their much speaking they shall be heard,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "mayest", "pray", "shalt", "hypocrites", "love", and "synagogues". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "mayest", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "that thy kindness may be in secret..." into verse 6's "But thou when thou mayest pray go...", so "thou" and "mayest" 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 "thou" and "mayest" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.