Matthew 23:13–29

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

¹³“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!^y You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.^{z [14]b}

¹⁵“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,^a and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell^b as you are.

¹⁶“Woe to you, blind guides!^c You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’^{d 17}You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?^{e 18}You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ ¹⁹You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?^{f 20}Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells^g in it. ²²And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.^h

²³“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenthⁱ of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.^j You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴You blind guides!^k You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

²⁵“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,^l but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.^{m 26}Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

²⁷“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,ⁿ which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

²⁹“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets^o and decorate the graves of the righteous.