Luke 11:37–54

Jesus Accuses the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law

³⁷When Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and sat down to eat. ³⁸The Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus had not washed before eating. ³⁹So the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of your cup and plate, but inside you are full of violence and evil. ⁴⁰Fools! Did not God, who made the outside, also make the inside? ⁴¹But give what is in your cups and plates to the poor, and everything will be ritually clean for you.

^42*“How terrible for you Pharisees! You give God a tenth of the seasoning herbs, such as mint and rue and all the other herbs, but you neglect justice and love for God. These you should practice, without neglecting the others.

⁴³“How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the reserved seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the market places. ⁴⁴How terrible for you! You are like unmarked graves which people walk on without knowing it.”

⁴⁵One of the teachers of the Law said to him, “Teacher, when you say this, you insult us too!”

⁴⁶Jesus answered, “How terrible also for you teachers of the Law! You put loads on people’s backs which are hard to carry, but you yourselves will not stretch out a finger to help them carry those loads. ⁴⁷How terrible for you! You make fine tombs for the prophets—the very prophets your ancestors murdered. ⁴⁸You yourselves admit, then, that you approve of what your ancestors did; they murdered the prophets, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹For this reason the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and messengers; they will kill some of them and persecute others.’ ⁵⁰So the people of this time will be punished for the murder of all the prophets killed since the creation of the world, ^51*from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the Holy Place. Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will be punished for them all!

⁵²“How terrible for you teachers of the Law! You have kept the key that opens the door to the house of knowledge; you yourselves will not go in, and you stop those who are trying to go in!”

⁵³When Jesus left that place, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to criticize him bitterly and ask him questions about many things, ⁵⁴trying to lay traps for him and catch him saying something wrong.