"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
— Matthew 6:34 (NIV)
Matthew 6:34 is the "do not worry about tomorrow" verse. This page gives the verse, where it sits in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and a plain reading. For more on the theme, see Bible verses about worry, Bible verses for anxiety, and Love and anxiety.
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The verse
The King James says, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
"Worry" is merimnaō (G3309), to be anxious or pulled in different directions. "Tomorrow" is aurion (G839). "Trouble" is kakia (G2549), here the hardship or evil that each day brings.
Where it sits in Matthew 6
Matthew 5–7 is the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:25 Jesus begins, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?"
He points to the birds: "your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:26). He asks, "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:27). Then comes the turn: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). Verse 34 closes the section.
What the verse is saying
Jesus does not say tomorrow will be easy. He says each day has enough trouble of its own. The point is to stop carrying tomorrow's load today, because the Father who feeds the birds already knows what you need (Matthew 6:32).
It is not a ban on planning. It is a limit on worry: deal with today's trouble today, and trust God with the rest. Earlier in the same chapter Jesus taught his followers to pray, "Give us today our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). For more, see Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:7, and Bible verses about stress.
Questions people ask
What does Matthew 6:34 say?
In the NIV it says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." The KJV says, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
Who said Matthew 6:34?
Jesus said it, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), as the close of his teaching on worry in Matthew 6:25-34.
Does Matthew 6:34 mean I shouldn't plan for the future?
No. The word Jesus uses is about anxious worry, not planning. He is telling his listeners not to let fear about tomorrow take over today, because the Father knows what they need.
What does "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" mean?
It is the KJV wording of "each day has enough trouble of its own." Each day brings its own hardship, so there is no need to add tomorrow's on top of it.
What verse goes with Matthew 6:34?
Matthew 6:33 comes right before it: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Philippians 4:6-7 says to bring every worry to God in prayer.
