Matthew 23

Jesus Characterizes the Pharisees

Mark 12:38–40; Luke 20:45–47

23Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, ²saying: ^a“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³Therefore whatever they tell you ¹to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for ^bthey say, and do not do. ^4cFor they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. ⁵But all their works they do to ^dbe seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. ^6eThey love the ²best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ ^8fBut you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your ³Teacher, ⁴the Christ, and you are all brethren. ⁹Do not call anyone on earth your father; ^gfor One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. ¹¹But ^hhe who is greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹²ⁱAnd whoever exalts himself will be ⁵humbled, and he who humbles himself will be ⁶exalted.

Jesus Condemns the Pharisees

¹³“But ^jwoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ¹⁴⁷Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^kFor you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

¹⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of ⁸hell as yourselves.

¹⁶“Woe to you, ^lblind guides, who say, ^m‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁷Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold ⁿor the temple that ⁹sanctifies the gold? ¹⁸And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁹Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift ^oor the altar that sanctifies the gift? ²⁰Therefore he who ¹swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. ²¹He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by ^pHim who ²dwells in it. ²²And he who swears by heaven, swears by ^qthe throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

²³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^rFor you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and ^shave neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ²⁴Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

²⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^tFor you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and ³self-indulgence. ²⁶Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

²⁷“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^uFor you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

^29v“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and ⁴adorn the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

³¹“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that ^wyou are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32xFill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. ³³Serpents, ^ybrood ⁵of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? ^34zTherefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: ^asome of them you will kill and crucify, and ^bsome of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, ^35cthat on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, ^dfrom the blood of righteous Abel to ^ethe blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Jesus Laments Over Jerusalem

^37f“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets ^gand stones those who are sent to her! How often ^hI wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks ⁱunder her wings, but you were not willing! ³⁸See! Your house is left to you desolate; ³⁹for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ^j‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”