Matthew 23
1 Then Jesus addressed the crowds and his disciples:
2 “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees have taken their seats in Moses’ place.
3 So do and observe everything they tell you, but don’t follow their example, because they speak without acting on their words.
4 They tie up burdens that are hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, yet they themselves won’t lift even a finger to shift them.
5 Everything they do is meant to catch people’s eye: they make their phylacteries broader and their tassels longer.
6 They enjoy the place of honor at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues,
7 being greeted in the marketplaces and having people call them Rabbi.
8 But you must not be called Rabbi, because you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.
9 And don’t call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, the one in heaven.
10 Nor should you be called instructors, because you have one Instructor: the Christ.
11 The greatest among you will serve the rest of you.
12 Whoever raises himself up will be brought low, and whoever lowers himself will be raised up.”
13 “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces: you don’t go in yourselves, and you stop those who are on their way in from entering.
15 How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You cross sea and land to win a single convert, and once you have one, you make him twice as fit for Gehenna as you are.
16 How terrible for you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the sanctuary, it means nothing; but whoever swears by the sanctuary’s gold is bound by the oath.’
17 Foolish, blind people! Which is greater: the gold, or the sanctuary that made the gold holy?
18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but whoever swears by the gift placed on it is bound by the oath.’
19 Blind people! 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 placed on it.
21 Whoever swears by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one seated on it.
23 How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have set aside the weightier matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faith. These were the things you needed to practice, without neglecting the others.
24 Blind guides, straining out a gnat while swallowing a camel!”
25 “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, while inside they are full of greed and lack of self-control.
26 Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of the cup first, so its outside may become clean too.
27 How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like tombs coated white: beautiful on the outside, but inside full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity.
28 In the same way, you look righteous to people on the outside, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.
30 You say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’
31 By saying this, you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Then go ahead and fill up the measure your ancestors began!
33 Snakes! Brood of vipers! How will you escape Gehenna’s judgment?
34 That is why I am sending you prophets, wise people, and teachers of the Law. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will whip in your synagogues and hunt from one city to another.
35 As a result, all the innocent blood shed on earth will come upon you, from the blood of Abel, the righteous one, 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 fall upon this generation.
37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings, but you were unwilling!
38 Look, your house is being left to you.
39 For I tell you: from now on you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
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