Matthew 23

¹Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, ²saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves on Moses's seat. ³So everything they tell you, do and observe—but do not act according to their deeds, for they speak but do not act. ⁴They tie up heavy loads and place them on people's shoulders, yet they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. ⁵All their deeds they do to be watched by people: they widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels, ⁶and they love the place of honor at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues ⁷and the greetings in the marketplaces and being called 'Rabbi' by people.

⁸"But you—do not be called 'Rabbi,' for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹And do not call anyone on earth your 'Father,' for one is your Father—the heavenly one. ¹⁰Nor be called 'instructors,' for one is your instructor—the Messiah. ¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, performers! For you lock up the kingdom of the heavens in front of people; you yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow those entering to go in.

¹⁵"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, performers! For you cross sea and dry land to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of Gehenna as yourselves.

¹⁶"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the sanctuary—it means nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound.' ¹⁷Fools and blind! Which is greater—the gold, or the sanctuary that consecrates the gold? ¹⁸And, 'Whoever swears by the altar—it means nothing; but whoever swears by the gift upon it is bound.' ¹⁹Blind ones! Which is greater—the gift, or the altar that consecrates the gift? ²⁰So the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything upon it; ²¹and the one who swears by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one dwelling in it; ²²and the one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one seated upon it.

²³"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, performers! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the Law—justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you should have done without neglecting the others. ²⁴Blind guides! Straining out the gnat but swallowing the camel.

²⁵"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, performers! For you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶Blind 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, performers! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside are full of dead bones and every kind of uncleanness. ²⁸So you also—on the outside you appear righteous to people, but inside you are full of pretense and lawlessness.

²⁹"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, performers! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been their partners in shedding the blood of the prophets.' ³¹So you testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³²Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers! ³³Serpents! Brood of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?

³⁴"Therefore—look!—I am sending to you prophets and sages and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from city to city, ³⁵so that upon you may come all the righteous blood poured out on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

³⁷"Jerusalem, Jerusalem—she who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling! ³⁸Look—your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹For I tell you, you will certainly not see me from now until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"