5.3-4, 6
Jesus said: "Good for the poor! Their way is the way God acts*. Good for those who grieve! They'll be consoled. Good for the hungry and thirsty! They'll have a feast."

5.13-15
Jesus said, "If salt loses its punch, how can its taste be restored? It's good for nothing except to be thrown out for people to tread on."

He also said, "A city built on a mountain top can't be hidden."

And again, "People don't usually light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket. They put it on a lamp-stand from where it gives light to everyone in the house."

5.25-26
Jesus said, "You shouldn't hesitate to reach a compromise with an adversary before you get to court. If you don't you could find yourself judged, handed over to the police and incarcerated in prison. I'm telling you, you won't get out of there until you've paid dearly.

5.29-30
Jesus said, "If you are compromised by your right eye, rip it out and throw it away. It would be better for you to lose a part of your body than for your whole body to finish up on the rubbish heap.

5.37
Jesus once said, "When you say "No!" let it mean "No!" And when you say "Yes!" let it mean "Yes!"

5.39-42
He also said, "Don't hit back against an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek as well. If someone sues you in court for your shirt, give him your jacket also. And if someone forces you to go any distance with them, go double the distance. Give to one who asks a favour from you."

5.44-46, 48
Jesus said, "Love your enemies. God causes the sun to rise on both good and bad people. He sends rain on both the just and the unjust. So why should you be praised if you love only those who love you? Even the tax collectors do that, don't they? So I say, be unstintingly generous in the same way that your heavenly Father gives without limits."

* The phrase "The way God gets things done" and "... how God acts" replace the more familiar "The kingdom of God" and the "God's imperial rule" of the Jesus Seminar. The phrases could also be rendered by something like "The way God works in the world". The thinking behind this translation is [a] that kingdoms and empires are no longer viable paradigms for ways of organising society in the 21st century; and [b] that no one nation can now be reasonably seen as operating in isolation. Each nation is inextricably bound up with every other. So when we now think of our world, it makes sense to imagine an all-embracing, highly complex, totally integrated system. The tiniest part of this system affects every other part. When we imagine God acting today, it no longer works well to think of an emperor or a king giving commands for things to be done by underlings. If God does intervene in the world - and that's by no means certain - then something like the phrases used here seem more expressive than those favoured by tradition.

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