23
Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat.
3 Therefore observe and do all that they tell you to observe. But do not do what they do, for they say things and do not do them.
4 They bind burdens that are heavy and hard to bear and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 They do all their works to be seen by others. They make their phylacteries wide and the fringes of their garments long.
6 They love the place of honor at banquets, the best seats in the synagogues,
7 greetings in the marketplaces, and when others call them ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’
8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for there is one who is your instructor, the Christ, and you are all brothers.
9 And do not call anyone on earth your father, for there is one who is your Father, he who is in heaven.
10 Neither are you to be called instructors, for there is one who is your instructor, the Christ.
11 But he who is greater among you must be your servant.
12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive a more severe judgment.
14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor do you let in those who are trying to enter.
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and when he has become one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
17 You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’
19 You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
20 Therefore, whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it.
22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have practiced without neglecting the other things.
24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but the inside is filled with the fruits of your robbery and unrighteousness.
26 Yoʋ blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside of them will also be clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and all uncleanness.
28 In the same way, you also appear righteous to others on the outside, 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 graves of the righteous,
30 and you say, ‘If we had been alive in the days of our fathers, we would not have been participants with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
31 Therefore you bear witness against yourselves that you are the 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 being sentenced to hell?
34 Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets, sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.
35 As a result, all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth will come upon you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
The Lament over Jerusalem
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to yoʋ! How often I have wanted to gather yoʋr children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
38 Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
39 For I tell you, from now on you will certainly not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”