Matthew 6:31 Meaning and Explanation
“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Worry rarely announces itself as rebellion. It arrives as a reasonable question about tomorrow's groceries or this winter's coat. Jesus names that quiet questioning directly, and He puts it in the plural voice we actually use when a household sits down to count what is left. Learning where He locates the problem changes how we pray about ordinary need.
Jesus draws His argument to a close by forbidding the anxious inner speech that turns food, drink, and clothing into consuming questions, since the Father who feeds birds and clothes grass provides for us.
The Context of Matthew 6:31
The words belong to the Sermon on the Mount, spoken to disciples with crowds listening. Chapter 6 moves from almsgiving, prayer, and fasting done before the Father who sees in secret, to treasure, the single eye, and the impossibility of serving God and mammon. From verse 25 Jesus applies that choice of masters to daily provision, pointing to the fowls of the air in verse 26 and the lilies of the field in verse 28. Verse 30 closes with the rebuke to those of little faith. Verse 31 gathers the whole argument into one repeated command before verse 33 supplies the alternative pursuit.
What Does Matthew 6:31 Mean?
The command opens with 'Therefore', tying it to the clothed grass of the previous verse, so the prohibition rests on an argument already made. 'Take no thought' in older English names anxious care, the gnawing kind, and Jesus attaches it here to the word 'saying'. What He forbids is the speech that anxiety generates: 'What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?' Three questions cover the body's basic needs, and each is asked in the first person plural, the language of a household weighing what is left in the jar. The worry Jesus names is conversational, repeated, and circling back on itself.
Verse 31 sits at the hinge of the chapter's second half. Verse 24 declared that no one can serve two masters, and anxiety about provision is one way mammon claims service without ever being called a god. The threefold question also reaches back to verse 11, where the disciples were taught to ask for daily bread from a Father. Asking God for bread and interrogating ourselves about bread are two different acts, and Jesus assigns them to two different lives. Israel learned the same lesson in the wilderness, gathering manna each morning with no way to store tomorrow. Trust in daily provision has always been part of covenant life.
The One who forbids this anxiety lived without a settled home and depended on the Father's provision through His whole ministry. In the wilderness He answered the tempter's suggestion about bread by quoting Deuteronomy on the word that proceeds from God's mouth, refusing to let hunger dictate the terms of trust. Later He fed thousands from a boy's small lunch and told His disciples to take up the fragments, showing both abundance and care. The command in verse 31 comes from someone who kept it. That is what makes it an invitation rather than a demand issued from comfort, and it is why the following verse turns immediately to the Father's knowledge.
Matthew 6:31 in the Original Language
merimnesete (μεριμνήσητε), 'take thought' -- to be anxious, pulled in different directions by care. The word describes worry that divides the mind and keeps it circling one unanswerable question, which is why foresight and honest labour stand untouched by the command.
Bible Verses Related to Matthew 6:31
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought 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 meat, and the body than raiment?”
- Matthew 6:25
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
- Matthew 6:11
“And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.”
- Luke 12:29
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
- Philippians 4:6
Where Matthew 6:31 Echoes in Scripture
Philippians 4:6 carries this teaching into apostolic instruction, setting anxiety aside and directing every request to God with thanksgiving. Paul writes from his own uncertain circumstances, and the promised result is a peace that guards heart and mind. The movement matches Matthew 6:31 exactly: the questions that circle inside us are handed over as petitions offered outward. First Peter 5:7 adds the same counsel with the reason attached, that God cares for us.
How to Apply Matthew 6:31 Today
Anxiety usually speaks before we notice it, so one practical step is to listen for the sentences. When the mind starts asking what we will eat, drink, or wear, we can turn the sentence into a request addressed to the Father in place of a question we keep asking ourselves. Household budgets, job searches, and grocery lists still need attention, and Jesus leaves that work in place. What He removes is the endless private interrogation. Many find help in praying the words of verse 11 aloud at the start of a hard day, asking for bread and then going to work with hands open.
Reflection & Prayer
Which of the three questions comes most easily to our lips, and what does that reveal about where we look for security? A prayer: Father, You know what we need before we ask. Quiet the questions that run in circles within us, teach us to bring them to You as requests, and give us today the bread that today requires. We ask it in the name of Jesus, who trusted You completely.