Matthew 23

CHAPTER 23

The Scribes and Pharisees Denounced

^1aThen Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,

²saying: “^aThe scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses;

³therefore all that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.

⁴“^aAnd they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.

⁵“But they do all their deeds ^ato be noticed by men; for they ^bbroaden their ¹phylacteries and lengthen ^cthe tassels of their garments.

⁶“And they ^alove the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues,

⁷and respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ^aRabbi by men.

⁸“But ^ado not be called ^bRabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.

⁹“And do not call anyone on earth your father; for ^aOne is your Father, He who is in heaven.

¹⁰“Do not be called instructors; for One is your Instructor, that is, Christ.

¹¹“^aBut the greatest among you shall be your servant.

¹²“^aAnd whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

¹³“^aBut woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, ^bbecause you shut off the kingdom of heaven ¹from ²people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

¹⁴¹[“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ^ayou devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]

¹⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one ^1aproselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of ^2bhell as yourselves.

¹⁶“Woe to you, ^ablind guides, who say, ‘^bWhoever swears by the ¹sanctuary, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the ²sanctuary is obligated.’

¹⁷“You fools and blind men! For ^awhich is ¹more important, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold?

¹⁸“And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the ¹offering on it, he is obligated.’

¹⁹“You blind men, ^awhich is ¹more important, the ²offering, or the altar that sanctifies the ³offering?

²⁰“Therefore, ¹whoever swears by the altar, swears both by ²the altar and by everything on it.

²¹“And ¹whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears both by the ²sanctuary and by Him who ^adwells within it.

²²“And ¹whoever swears by heaven, ^aswears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

²³“^aWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and ¹cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

²⁴“You ^ablind guides, who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

²⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^ayou clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full ¹of robbery and self-indulgence.

²⁶“You blind Pharisee, first ^aclean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

²⁷“^aWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

²⁸“In this way, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹“^aWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,

³⁰and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

³¹“So you bear witness against yourselves, that you ^aare ¹sons of those who murdered the prophets.

³²“Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

³³“You serpents, ^ayou brood of vipers, how ¹will you escape the ²sentence of ^3bhell?

³⁴“^aOn account of this, behold, ^bI am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will ^cflog in your synagogues, and ^dpersecute from city to city,

³⁵so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^aAbel to the blood of Zechariah, the ^bson of Berechiah, whom ^cyou murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

³⁶“Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon ^athis generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

³⁷“^aJerusalem, Jerusalem, who ^bkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ^cthe way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you did not want it.

³⁸“Behold, ^ayour house is being left to you desolate!

³⁹“For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘^aBlessed is He who comes in the name of the ¹Lord!’”