Luke 11:37–54

Religious Hypocrisy Denounced

³⁷As He was speaking, a Pharisee ^qasked Him to dine with him. So He went in and reclined at the table. ³⁸When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that He did not first perform the ritual washing ^rsbefore dinner. ^t39But the Lord said to him: “Now you Pharisees ^•clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed ^uand evil. ^v40Fools! ^wDidn’t He who made the outside make the inside too? ⁴¹But give from what is within to the poor, ^xyand then everything is clean ^zfor you.

⁴²“But woe ^ato you Pharisees! You give a tenth ^bcof mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass ^djustice ^eand love for God. ^fgThese things you should have done without neglecting the others.

⁴³“Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat ^hin the ^•synagogues ⁱand greetings in the marketplaces.

⁴⁴“Woe to you! ^jYou are like unmarked graves; ^kthe people who walk over them don’t know it.”

⁴⁵One of the experts in the law ^lanswered Him, “Teacher, when You say these things You insult us too.”

⁴⁶Then He said: “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens ^mthat are hard to carry, yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers. ⁿ

⁴⁷“Woe to you! You build monuments ^oto the prophets, ^pand your fathers killed ^qthem. ⁴⁸Therefore, you are witnesses ^rthat you approve ^stthe deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments. ^u49Because of this, the wisdom of God ^vsaid, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, ^wand some of them they will kill and persecute,’ ^x50so that this generation ^ymay be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world ^za— ⁵¹from the blood of Abel ^bto the blood of Zechariah, ^cwho perished between the altar and the sanctuary.

“Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible. ^d

⁵²“Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge! ^eYou didn’t go in yourselves, and you hindered ^fthose who were going in.”

⁵³When He left there, ^gthe scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose ^hHim fiercely and to cross-examine Him about many things; ⁵⁴they were lying in wait ⁱfor Him to trap Him in something He said. ^jk