Matt-23
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v1
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
v2
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,
v3
so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
v4
They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
v5
They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
v6
and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
v7
and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
v8
But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.
v9
And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
v10
Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.
v11
The greatest among you shall be your servant.
v12
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
v13
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
v15
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
v16
“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.‘
v17
You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
v18
And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.‘
v19
You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
v20
So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
v21
And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it.
v22
And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
v23
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
v24
You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
v25
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
v26
You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
v27
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
v28
So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
v29
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
v30
saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.‘
v31
Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
v32
Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
v33
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
v34
Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
v35
so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
v36
Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.Lament over Jerusalem
v37
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
v38
See, your house is left to you desolate.
v39
For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.‘”