^23:29“Woe to you, experts in the law³³ and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You³⁴ build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves³⁵ of the righteous. ^23:30And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,³⁶ we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ^23:31By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ^23:32Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! ^23:33You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?³⁷

^23:34“For this reason I³⁸ am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law,³⁹ some of whom you will kill and crucify,⁴⁰ and some you will flog⁴¹ in your synagogues⁴² and pursue from town to town, ^23:35so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah,⁴³ whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ^23:36I tell you the truth,⁴⁴ this generation will be held responsible for all these things!⁴⁵

Judgment on Israel

^23:37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,⁴⁶ you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you!⁴⁷ How often I have longed⁴⁸ to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but⁴⁹ you would have none of it!⁵⁰^23:38Look, your house is left to you desolate! ^23:39For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”⁵¹

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Footnotes

33 Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in .
34 Grk “Because you.” Here ὄτι (hoti) has not been translated.
35 Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75–76).
36 Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).
37 Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.” See the note on the word hell in .
38 Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis ( 1).
39 Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in .
40 See the note on crucified in .
41 μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited notes by SKrauss ’33) of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”
42 See the note on synagogues in .
43 Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Barachiou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (, ); “Berechiah” (); “Berachiah” ().
44 Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
45 Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”
46 The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion. For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
47 Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your … you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill … sent to you”).
48 How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.
49 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
50 Grk “you were not willing.”
51 A quotation from Ps 118:26.