Matthew 23
23
A Warning Against Doing Things for the Wrong Reasons
1Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. 2“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat,” he said. 3“So you must be careful to do everything they say. But don’t do what they do. They don’t practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry. Then they put them on other people’s shoulders. But they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them.
5“Everything they do is done for others to see. On their foreheads and arms they wear little boxes that hold Scripture verses. They make the boxes very wide. And they make the tassels on their coats very long. 6They love to sit down in the place of honor at dinners. They also love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. 7They love to be greeted with respect in the markets. They love it when people call them ‘Rabbi.’
8“But you shouldn’t be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have only one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9Do not call anyone on earth ‘father.’ You have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10You shouldn’t be called ‘teacher.’ You have one Teacher, and he is the Messiah. 11The most important person among you will be your servant. 12People who lift themselves up will be made humble. And people who make themselves humble will be lifted up.
How Terrible for the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
13-14“How terrible it will be for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter. And you will not let those enter who are trying to.
15“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You travel everywhere to win one person to your faith. Then you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16“How terrible for you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone makes a promise in the name of the temple, it means nothing. But anyone who makes a promise in the name of the gold of the temple must keep that promise.’ 17You are blind and foolish! Which is more important? Is it the gold? Or is it the temple that makes the gold holy? 18You also say, ‘If anyone makes a promise in the name of the altar, it means nothing. But anyone who makes a promise in the name of the gift on the altar must keep that promise.’ 19You are blind! Which is more important? Is it the gift? Or is it the altar that makes the gift holy? 20So anyone making a promise in the name of the altar makes a promise in the name of it and everything on it. 21And anyone making a promise in the name of the temple makes a promise in the name of it and the one who lives in it. 22And anyone making a promise in the name of heaven makes a promise in the name of God’s throne and the one who sits on it.
23“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You give God a tenth of your spices, like mint, dill and cumin. But you have not practiced the more important things of the law, which are fairness, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the last things without failing to do the first. 24You blind guides! You remove the smallest insect from your food. But you swallow a whole camel!
25“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You clean the outside of a cup and dish. But on the inside you are full of greed. You only want to satisfy yourselves. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish. Then the outside will also be clean.
27“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You are like tombs that are painted white. They look beautiful on the outside. But on the inside they are full of the bones of the dead. They are also full of other things that are not pure and ‘clean.’ 28It is the same with you. On the outside you seem to be doing what is right. But on the inside you are full of what is wrong. You pretend to be what you are not.
29“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You build tombs for the prophets. You decorate the graves of the godly. 30And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of those who lived before us, we wouldn’t have done what they did. We wouldn’t have helped to kill the prophets.’ 31So you are witnesses against yourselves. You admit that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets. 32So go ahead and finish the sins that those who lived before you started!
33“You nest of poisonous snakes! How will you escape from being sentenced to hell? 34So I am sending you prophets, wise people, and teachers. You will kill some of them. You will nail some to a cross. Others you will whip in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town. 35So you will pay for all the godly people’s blood spilled on earth. I mean from the blood of godly Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. Zechariah was the one you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36What I’m about to tell you is true. All this will happen to those who are now living.
37“Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and throw stones in order to kill those who are sent to you. Many times I have wanted to gather your people together. I have wanted to be like a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. And you would not let me! 38Look, your house is left empty. 39I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ” (Psalm 118:26)
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Matthew 23: NIrV
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Matthew 23
23
Jesus Disapproves of the Example Set by the Jewish Leaders
(Mark 12:37b–40; Luke 20:45–47)
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2“The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the Pharisees teach with Moses’ authority. 3So be careful to do everything they tell you. But don’t follow their example, because they don’t practice what they preach. 4They make loads that are hard to carry and lay them on the shoulders of the people. However, they are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5“They do everything to attract people’s attention. They make their headbands large and the tassels on their shawls long. 6They love the place of honor at dinners and the front seats in synagogues. 7They love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have people call them Rabbi. 8But don’t make others call you Rabbi, because you have only one teacher, and you are all followers. 9And don’t call anyone on earth your father, because you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Don’t make others call you a leader, because you have only one leader, the Messiah. 11The person who is greatest among you will be your servant. 12Whoever honors himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be honored.
The Hypocrisy of the Jewish Leaders
13“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You don’t enter it yourselves, and you don’t permit others to enter when they try.#23:13 Some manuscripts and translations add verse 14: “How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You rob widows by taking their houses and then say long prayers to make yourselves look good. You will receive a most severe punishment.” (See Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.)
15“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You cross land and sea to recruit a single follower, and when you do, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are.
16“How horrible it will be for you, you blind guides! You say, ‘To swear an oath by the temple doesn’t mean a thing. But to swear an oath by the gold in the temple means a person must keep his oath.’ 17You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the temple that made the gold holy? 18Again you say, ‘To swear an oath by the altar doesn’t mean a thing. But to swear an oath by the gift on the altar means a person must keep his oath.’ 19You blind men! What is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20To swear an oath by the altar is to swear by it and by everything on it. 21To swear an oath by the temple is to swear by it and by the one who lives there. 22And to swear an oath by heaven is to swear by God’s throne and the one who sits on it.
23“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give ⌞God⌟ one-tenth of your mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the most important things in Moses’ Teachings. You should have done these things without neglecting the others. 24You blind guides! You strain gnats ⌞out of your wine⌟, but you swallow camels.
25“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of cups and dishes. But inside they are full of greed and uncontrolled desires. 26You blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cups and dishes so that the outside may also be clean.
27“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed graves that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28So on the outside you look as though you have God’s approval, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who had God’s approval. 30Then you say, ‘If we had lived at the time of our ancestors, we would not have helped to murder the prophets.’ 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Go ahead, finish what your ancestors started!
33“You snakes! You poisonous snakes! How can you escape being condemned to hell? 34I’m sending you prophets, wise men, and teachers of the Scriptures. You will kill and crucify some of them. Others you will whip in your synagogues and persecute from city to city. 35As a result, you will be held accountable for all the innocent blood of those murdered on earth. This includes the murder of Abel, who had God’s approval, to that of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36I can guarantee this truth: The people living now will be held accountable for all these things.
37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you were not willing! 38Your house will be abandoned, deserted. 39I can guarantee that 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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