Matthew 23:13–29

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,