23 After that, Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. 2 He said, ‘The teachers of God's Law and the Pharisees have authority to explain the Law of Moses. 3 So you must obey everything that they teach you. But you should not do the same things that they do. They tell you what the Law of Moses teaches. But then they themselves do not obey it. 4 The rules that they give you are difficult to obey. Their rules are like heavy luggage, which they make you carry. But they themselves will not help you to carry that luggage. They will not agree to use even one finger to help you. [ a ]
5 The Pharisees do things only so that people will see them. They wear little boxes with words from the Bible in them, but they make them really big. They also make the tassels on their clothes very long. [ b ] 6 They like to sit in the important places at special meals. They also choose to sit in the best seats in the meeting places. 7 They like people to praise them in the market place. They want people to call them “Teacher.”
8 You all belong to God's family. You have only one Teacher. So nobody should call another person, “Teacher”. [ c ] 9 Also, do not call any other person in the world, “Father”. You have only one Father, and he is in heaven. [ d ] 10 And do not call each other “Leader”. You have only one Leader. He is the Messiah that God has chosen. 11 The person among you who is most important will be your servant. 12 Some people lift themselves up to be important. But God will bring them down low. Other people are humble. God will lift up those people to a good place.’
13 Jesus spoke to the teachers of God's Law and the Pharisees. ‘It will be very bad for you,’ he said. ‘You are hypocrites! You have stopped people who wanted to go into the kingdom of heaven. It is like you have shut the door so that they cannot go in. Then you yourselves do not even go in.
14 [It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's Law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You take things away from women after their husbands have died. You pray for a long time so that other people will praise you. God will punish you much more than other people.] [ e ]
15 It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's Law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You travel far across land and sea. You do this to make one person believe what you believe. Then, when he does believe your ideas, he becomes worse than you are. He shows that he belongs to hell even more than you do.
16 It will be very bad for you, teachers. You cannot see what is true, but you show people which way to go. [ f ] You say to people, “You may make a promise by the name of the temple. Then it is not a serious promise. You do not have to do it. But you may also make a promise by the gold things in the temple. Then it is a serious promise, and you must do it.” 17 This shows that you are fools. You do not understand what is true. Think about which of these is more important. Is it the gold things in the temple? Or is it the temple itself? It is the temple that makes the gold things special. 18 You also say to people, “You may make a promise by the altar in the temple. Then it is not a serious promise. You do not have to do it. But you may also make a promise by the gifts on that altar. Then it is a serious promise and you must do it.” 19 You are people who cannot understand what is true. Think about which of these things is more important. Is it the gifts on the altar? Or is it the altar itself? It is the altar that makes the gifts special. 20 Remember this: Somebody may make a promise by the name of the altar. Then he is making a promise by God's name. The altar as well as all the gifts on it are special to God. 21 Also, somebody may make a promise by the name of the temple. Then he is making a promise in the name of God, who lives there. 22 Or somebody may make a promise by heaven. Then he is making a promise by the place where God sits and rules. So he is making a promise by the name of God himself. [ g ]
23 It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's Law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! When you grow spices to cook with food, you give a tenth part of these small things to God. You are right to obey this rule. But you do not obey the more important parts of God's Law. You do not help people in a good way. You are not kind to them. You do not always do what God says is right. You should have done these important things as well as the other small things. 24 You are like blind people, but you show other people which way to go. You carefully take a small fly out of your water so that you do not drink it. But then you drink the large animal that is swimming in it! [ h ]
25 It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's Law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You always clean the outside of your cups and plates very carefully. You only clean the outside part that people can see. But on the inside, everything is still dirty. Inside you, your minds are full of bad thoughts. You want to have more things for yourself. You hurt other people to get what you want. 26 Pharisees, you do not see what is true! You must first clean the inside of the cup. Then the outside that people can see will also be clean.
27 It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You are like a grave that has nice white paint on the outside and it looks beautiful. But on the inside it is full of bones and disgusting things. 28 You are the same as that. Other people look at you. They think that you are good and you obey God. But on the inside you are hypocrites. Your minds are full of many bad thoughts.
29 It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's Law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You build up the places where people have buried God's prophets. You make the places where they have buried good people to be beautiful. 30 You say, “Our ancestors killed God's prophets long ago. If we had lived at that time, we would not have helped our ancestors to do that.” 31 So you are speaking against yourselves. You show that you are the sons of those people who killed God's prophets. 32 Now you must finish the work that your ancestors began to do!
33 You are like a family of dangerous snakes! You will not be able to run away. God will surely punish you, and he will send you to hell. 34 So listen to this. God says, “I will send prophets to you. I will also send to you people who know many things. And I will send people to teach you what is true. But you will kill some of these people. You will kill some of them on a cross. In the places where you meet to pray, you will hit some of them with whips. They will run from one town to another town, but you will follow them.” 35 Because of all this, God will punish you for all the good people that you and your ancestors have killed. Long ago, Abel was the first of those good people. You also killed Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. He died in the yard of the temple near the altar. [ i ] 36 Yes, I tell you this: God will punish the people who are alive today for all those murders.
37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed God's prophets. They have thrown stones to kill other people that God has sent to you. Many times, I have wanted to bring all of your people near to me. A female bird covers her babies with her body to make them safe. But you would not let me keep you from danger like that. 38 So listen! Your place will now become like a wilderness where nobody lives. 39 And I tell you this. You will not see me again until the day when you say, “May the Lord God bless the man who comes with his authority!” ’ [ j ]
23 Then Jesus spoke to the people and to his followers. He said, 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the Law of Moses says. 3 So you should obey them. Do everything they tell you to do. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don’t do those things themselves. 4 They make strict rules that are hard for people to obey. They try to force others to obey all their rules. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.
5 “The only reason they do what they do is for other people to see them. They make the little Scripture boxes [ a ] they wear bigger and bigger. And they make the tassels [ b ] on their prayer clothes long enough for people to notice them. 6 These men love to have the places of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues. 7 They love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces and to call them ‘Teacher.’
8 “But you must not be called ‘Teacher.’ You are all equal as brothers and sisters. You have only one Teacher. 9 And don’t call anyone on earth ‘Father.’ You have one Father. He is in heaven. 10 And you should not be called ‘Master.’ You have only one Master, the Messiah. 11 Whoever serves you like a servant is the greatest among you. 12 People who think they are better than others will be made humble. But people who humble themselves will be made great.
13 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the way for people to enter God’s kingdom. You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop those who are trying to enter. 14 [ c ]
15 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites. You travel across the seas and across different countries to find one person who will follow your ways. When you find that person, you make him worse than you are. And you are so bad that you belong in hell!
16 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You guide the people, but you are blind. You say, ‘If anyone uses the name of the Temple to make a promise, that means nothing. But anyone who uses the gold that is in the Temple to make a promise must keep that promise.’ 17 You are blind fools! Can’t you see that the Temple is greater than the gold on it? It’s the Temple that makes the gold holy!
18 “And you say, ‘If anyone uses the altar to make a promise, that means nothing. But anyone who uses the gift on the altar to make a promise must keep that promise.’ 19 You are blind! Can’t you see that the altar is greater than any gift on it? It’s the altar that makes the gift holy! 20 Whoever uses the altar to make a promise is really using the altar and everything on the altar. 21 And anyone who uses the Temple to make a promise is really using the Temple and God, who lives in it. 22 Whoever uses heaven to make a promise is using God’s throne and the one who is seated on it.
23 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You give God a tenth of the food you get, even your mint, dill, and cumin. [ d ] But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law—being fair, showing mercy, and being faithful. These are the things you should do. And you should also continue to do those other things. 24 You guide the people, but you are blind! Think about a man picking a little fly out of his drink and then swallowing a camel! You are like that. [ e ]
25 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You wash clean the outside of your cups and dishes. But inside they are full of what you got by cheating others and pleasing yourselves. 26 Pharisees, you are blind! First make the inside of the cup clean and good. Then the outside of the cup will also be clean.
27 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside they look fine, but inside they are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of filth. 28 It is the same with you. People look at you and think you are godly. But on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and evil.
29 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets. And you show honor to the graves of the godly people who were killed. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have helped them kill these prophets.’ 31 So you give proof that you are descendants of those who killed the prophets. 32 And you will finish the sin that your ancestors started!
33 “You are snakes! You are from a family of poisonous snakes! You will not escape God. You will all be judged guilty and go to hell! 34 So I tell you this: I send to you prophets and teachers who are wise and know the Scriptures. You will kill some of them. You will hang some of them on crosses. You will beat some of them in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town.
35 “So you will be guilty for the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth. You will be guilty for the killing of that godly man Abel. And you will be guilty for the killing of Zechariah [ f ] son of Berachiah. He was killed between the Temple and the altar. You will be guilty for the killing of all the good people who lived between the time of Abel and the time of Zechariah. 36 Believe me when I say that all these things will happen to you people who are living now.
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You stone to death those that God has sent to you. Many, many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me. 38 Now your house will be left completely empty. 39 I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ [ g ] ”
23 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
23 ( A ) Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “ ( B ) The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. 3 Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and [ a ] comply with it all, but do not do [ b ] as they do; for they say things and do not do them . 4 And ( C ) they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger. 5 And they do all their deeds ( D ) to be noticed by other people; for they ( E ) broaden their [ c ] phylacteries and lengthen ( F ) the tassels of their garments . 6 And they ( G ) love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues, 7 and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called [ d ] ( H ) Rabbi by the people. 8 But as for you, ( I ) do not be called [ e ] ( J ) Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters . 9 And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only ( K ) One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called [ f ] leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is , Christ. 11 ( L ) But the greatest of you shall be your servant. 12 ( M ) Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
13 “ ( N ) But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, ( O ) because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. [ g ]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one [ h ] ( P ) proselyte; and when he becomes one , you [ i ] make him twice as much a son of [ j ] ( Q ) hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, ( R ) blind guides, who say, ‘ ( S ) Whoever swears by the [ k ] temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the [ l ] temple is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! ( T ) Which is [ m ] more important, the gold or the [ n ] temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And you say , ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the [ o ] offering that is on it is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, ( U ) which is [ p ] more important, the [ q ] offering or the altar that sanctifies the [ r ] offering? 20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by [ s ] the altar and by everything on it. 21 And the one who swears by the [ t ] temple, swears both by [ u ] the temple and by Him who ( V ) dwells in it. 22 And the one who swears by [ v ] heaven, ( W ) swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23 “ ( X ) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and [ w ] cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You ( Y ) blind guides, who [ x ] strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ( Z ) you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full [ y ] of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first ( AA ) clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the [ z ] outside of it may also become clean.
27 “ ( AB ) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “ ( AC ) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you ( AD ) are [ aa ] sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 [ ab ] Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You snakes, ( AE ) you [ ac ] offspring of vipers, how [ ad ] will you escape the [ ae ] sentence of [ af ] ( AF ) hell?
34 “ ( AG ) Therefore, behold, ( AH ) I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will ( AI ) flog in your synagogues, and ( AJ ) persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ( AK ) Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the ( AL ) son of Berechiah, whom ( AM ) you murdered between the [ ag ] temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon ( AN ) this generation.
37 “ ( AO ) Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who ( AP ) kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ( AQ ) the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 Behold, ( AR ) your house is being left to you desolate! 39 For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘ ( AS ) Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord !’”
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law ( C ) and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. ( D )
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: ( E ) They make their phylacteries [ a ] ( F ) wide and the tassels on their garments ( G ) long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ( H ) 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others. ( I )
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, ( J ) and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. ( K ) 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. ( L )
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! ( M ) 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. ( N ) [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, ( O ) and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell ( P ) as you are.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! ( Q ) 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.’ ( R ) 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? ( S ) 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.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ( T ) 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells ( U ) in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. ( V )
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth ( W ) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. ( X ) You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! ( Y ) 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, ( Z ) but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ( AA ) 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, ( AB ) which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In 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 ( AC ) and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ( AD ) 32 Go ahead, then, and complete ( AE ) what your ancestors started! ( AF )
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! ( AG ) How will you escape being condemned to hell? ( AH ) 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; ( AI ) others you will flog in your synagogues ( AJ ) and pursue from town to town. ( AK ) 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel ( AL ) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, ( AM ) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ( AN ) 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. ( AO )
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, ( AP ) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, ( AQ ) and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. ( AR ) 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ [ c ] ” ( AS )
