Matthew 23

¹Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples ,

²The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses ’ seat ,

³so do and observe whatever they tell you , but not the works they do . For they preach , but do not practice .

⁴They 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 .

⁵They do all their deeds to be seen by others . For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long ,

⁶and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues

⁷and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others .

⁸But you are not to be called rabbi , for you have one teacher , and you are all brothers .

⁹And call no man your father on earth , for you have one Father , who is in heaven .

¹⁰Neither be called instructors , for you have one instructor , the Christ .

¹¹The greatest among you shall be your servant .

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

¹³But 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 .

¹⁵Woe 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 .

¹⁶Woe 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 .

¹⁷You blind fools ! For which is greater , the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred ?

¹⁸And 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 .

¹⁹You blind men! For which is greater , the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred ?

²⁰So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it .

²¹And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it .

²²And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it .

²³Woe 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 .

²⁴You blind guides , straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel !

²⁵Woe 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 .

²⁶You blind Pharisee ! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate , that the outside also may be clean .

²⁷Woe 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 .

²⁸So you also outwardly appear righteous to others , but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness .

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

³⁰saying , 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 .

³¹Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets .

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

³³You serpents , you brood of vipers , how are you to escape being sentenced to hell ?

³⁴Therefore 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 ,

³⁵so 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 .

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

³⁷O 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 !

³⁸See , your house is left to you desolate .

³⁹For I tell you , you will not see me again , until you say , Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord .