Luke 11:37–54

Jesus Denounces Pharisees and Experts in the Law

³⁷While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him, so he went in and took his place at the table.^{* 38}The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner.^{* 39}Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.^{* 40}You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹So give as alms those things that are within and then everything will be clean for you.^*

⁴²“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others.^{* 43}Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.^{* 44}Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves on which people unknowingly walk.”^*

⁴⁵One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us, too.” ⁴⁶And he said, “Woe also to you experts in the law! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them.^{* 47}Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed.^{* 48}So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹For this reason the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’^{* 50}so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, ⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.^{* 52}Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”^*

⁵³When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees became hostile to him and began to interrogate him about many things, ⁵⁴lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.^*