Matthew 23

1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples:

2 “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

3 So observe and practice everything they tell you to observe. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

4 They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5 All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.

6 They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues,

7 the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ by which they are addressed.

8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brothers.

9 And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ.

11 The greatest among you shall be your servant.

12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.

15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

16 Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?

18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’

19 You are foolish and blind! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred?

20 So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it.

22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it.

23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and unrighteousness.

26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.

27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.

28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.

30 And you say, ‘If we had lived 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 are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.

32 Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.

33 You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

34 Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.

35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

36 Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.

39 For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

1 ¶ 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.›

1 Then spake JEsus unto the people, and unto his disciples

2 And said, In Moses' seat sit the scribes and Pharisees.

3 All things therefore whatsoever they say unto you, that ye ought to observe, observe, and do; but after their works do ye not. They say it, and do it not.

4 But they bind heavy and intolerable burdens, and lay them upon men's necks; but they will not lift them with a finger.

5 And all their works do they that they may be seen of men. They make their slips wide, and the hems of their garments great.

6 they like to sit on top over the table and in the schools

7 And they delight to be saluted in the market, and to be called of men Rabbi.

8 But ye shall not be called Rabbi: for one is your Master, Christ: but ye are all brethren.

9 And call no man your father upon earth: for one is your Father which is in heaven.

10 And ye shall not be called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

11 The greatest among you shall be your servant.

12 For he that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that abaseth himself shall be exalted.

13 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, which shut up the kingdom of heaven from men! Ye enter not in, neither let them that would enter in.

14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, that eat widows' houses, and turn aside long prayers! Therefore ye shall receive the more condemnation.

15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, which go about by land and sea, to make a fellow Jew! And when he is made, ye make him a child of hell, twofold more than ye are.

16 Woe unto you, ye blind leaders, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing: but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is guilty.

17 Ye fools and blind men, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

18 Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing: but whosoever shall swear by the sacrifice that is above, he is guilty.

19 Ye fools and blind men, which is greater, the sacrifice, or the altar that sanctifieth the sacrifice?

20 He that sweareth by the altar sweareth by it, and by all that is above.

21 And whosoever shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

22 And whosoever shall swear by heaven shall swear by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe the mint, and the dill, and the caraway, and leave behind the most grievous things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith. This ought ye to do, and that ought ye not to do.

24 Ye blind leaders, which behold gnats, and swallow camels!

25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye keep the vessels and the vials clean outwardly, but inwardly they are full of spoil and filth.

26 Thou blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inward parts of the cup and dish, that the outward parts also may be clean.

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones and all manner of filthiness.

28 So likewise ye; outwardly ye appear righteous before men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, which build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the graves of the righteous.

30 Saying, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them of the blood of the prophets.

31 Ye bear witness of yourselves, that ye are the children of them that slew the prophets.

32 Come, ye also, fulfill the measure of your fathers.

33 Ye serpents, ye vipers, how shall ye escape the damnation of hell?

34 Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and of them ye shall kill and crucify some, and some ye shall 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 the son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

37 Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings; and ye would not!

38 Behold, your house shall be left unto you desolate.

39 For I say unto you: Ye shall not see me from henceforth, till ye say, Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD.