1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So do and observe everything they tell you, but do not act according to their works, for they say and do not do. 4 They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their works to be seen by others. They make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6 They love the place of honor at dinners and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ‘Rabbi’ by people. 8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no one on earth your father, for you have one Father, the heavenly one. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow those entering to go in. 14 [Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses and make long prayers for a pretense. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.] 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel sea and land to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

16 Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary, it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that made the gold holy? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gift on it is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who sits on it.

23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the Law: justice and mercy and faith. You ought to have practiced these without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat but swallowing a camel!

25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that its outside may also become clean.

27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inside are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 In the same way, you outwardly appear righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have shared with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers! 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers! How will you escape the condemnation of hell? 34 Therefore, look, I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children 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, you will not see me from now on until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”