Luke 6:20; Matthew 5:3 Click on these links to read the passage. You may select your own version of the Bible after the link opens. As I read the first of the Beatitudes in Luke I kept saying to myself that this wasn’t the way I remembered it. I searched several translations, but still couldn’t find one that started “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Instead I kept finding “Blessed are the poor.” I finally realized that
29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke 12:29-31 (NIV) If we will pause to think of the people and their culture in which Jesus first gave this teaching, it will help us