Matthew 23
23
1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds, and to his disciples,
2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have sat down in the chair of Moses.
3 Therefore, all things whatsoever that they shall say to you, observe and do. Yet truly, do not choose to act according to their works. For they say, but they do not do.
4 For they bind up heavy and unbearable burdens, and they impose them on men's shoulders. But they are not willing to move them with even a finger of their own.
5 Truly, they do all their works so that they may be seen by men. For they enlarge their phylacteries and glorify their hems.
6 And they love the first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues,
7 and greetings in the marketplace, and to be called Master by men.
8 But you must not be called Master. For One is your Master, and you are all brothers.
9 And do not choose to call anyone on earth your father. For One is your Father, who is in heaven.
10 Neither should you be called teachers. For One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11 Whoever is greater among you shall be your minister.
12 But whoever has exalted himself, shall be humbled. And whoever has humbled himself, shall be exalted.
13 So then: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you close the kingdom of heaven before men. For you yourselves do not enter, and those who are entering, you would not permit to enter.
14 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you consume the houses of widows, praying long prayers. Because of this, you shall receive the greater judgment.
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and by land, in order to make one convert. And when he has been converted, you make him twice the son of Hell that you are yourselves.
16 Woe to you, blind guides, who say: 'Whoever will have sworn by the temple, it is nothing. But whoever will have sworn by the gold of the temple is obligated.'
17 You are foolish and blind! For which is greater: the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
18 And you say: 'Whoever will have sworn by the altar, it is nothing. But whoever will have sworn by the gift that is on the altar is obligated.'
19 How blind you are! For which is greater: the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
20 Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all that is on it.
21 And whoever will have sworn by the temple, swears by it, and by him who dwells in it.
22 And whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits upon it.
23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you collect tithes on mint and dill and cumin, but you have abandoned the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, while not omitting the others.
24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat, while swallowing a camel!
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you clean what is outside the cup and the dish, but on the inside you are full of avarice and impurity.
26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, and then what is outside becomes clean.
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed sepulchers, which outwardly appear brilliant to men, yet truly, inside, they are filled with the bones of the dead and with all filth.
28 So also, you certainly appear to men outwardly to be just. But inwardly you are filled with hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, who build the sepulchers of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the just.
30 And then you say, 'If we had been there in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined with them in the blood of the prophets.'
31 And so you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets.
32 Complete, then, the measure of your fathers.
33 You serpents, you brood of vipers! How will you escape from the judgment of Hell?
34 For this reason, behold, I send to you prophets and wisemen, and scribes. And some of these you will put to death and crucify; and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
35 so that upon you may fall all the blood of the just, which has been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.
36 Amen I say to you, all these things shall fall upon this generation.
37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone those who have been sent to you. How often I have wanted to gather your children together, in the way that a hen gathers her young under her wings. But you were not willing!
38 Behold, your house shall be abandoned to you, having been deserted.
39 For I say to you, you shall not see me again, until you say: 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' "
Currently Selected:
Matthew 23: CPDV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Matthew 23
23
Jesus Accuses the Leaders
1Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his followers. Jesus said, 2“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the law of Moses says. 3So you should obey and follow whatever they tell you. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don’t do the things themselves. 4They make strict rules and try to force people to obey them. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.
5“The reason they do good things is so other people will see them. They make the boxes# Small leather boxes containing four important Scriptures. Some Jews tied these to the forehead and left arm, probably to show they were very religious. of Scriptures that they wear bigger and bigger. And they make their special prayer clothes very long so that people will notice them. 6Those Pharisees and teachers of the law love to have the most important seats at the feasts. And they love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. 7They love people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. And they love to have people call them ‘Teacher.’
8“But you must not be called ‘Teacher.’ You are all brothers and sisters together. You have only one Teacher. 9And don’t call any person on earth ‘Father.’ You have one Father. He is in heaven. 10And you should not be called ‘Master.’ You have only one Master, the Christ. 11He who serves you as a servant is the greatest among you. 12Whoever makes himself great will be made humble. Whoever makes himself humble will be made great.
13“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the door for people to enter the kingdom of heaven. You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop others who are trying to enter. 14[How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You take away widows’ houses, and you make long prayers so that people can see you. So you will have a worse punishment.]# Some Greek copies do not contain the bracketed text.
15“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You travel across land and sea to find one person who will follow your ways. When you find that person, you make him more fit for hell than you are.
16“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You guide the people, but you are blind. You say, ‘If anyone swears by the Temple when he makes a promise, that means nothing. But if anyone swears by the gold that is in the Temple, then he must keep that promise.’ 17You are blind fools! Which is greater: the gold or the Temple? The Temple makes that gold holy. 18And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar when he makes a promise, that means nothing. But if he swears by the gift on the altar, then he must keep his promise.’ 19You are blind! Which is greater: the gift or the altar? The altar makes the gift holy. 20The person who swears by the altar is really using the altar and also everything on the altar. 21And the person who uses the Temple to make a promise is really using the Temple and also everything in the Temple. 22The person who uses heaven to make a promise is also using God’s throne and the One who sits on that throne.
23“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You give to God one-tenth of everything you earn—even your mint, dill, and cummin.# Small plants grown in gardens and used for spices. Only very religious people would be careful enough to give a tenth of these plants. But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law—being fair, showing mercy, and being loyal. These are the things you should do, as well as those other things. 24You guide the people, but you are blind! You are like a person who picks a fly out of his drink and then swallows a camel!# Meaning, “You worry about the smallest mistakes but commit the biggest sin.”
25“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You wash the outside of your cups and dishes. But inside they are full of things that you got by cheating others and pleasing only yourselves. 26Pharisees, you are blind! First make the inside of the cup clean and good. Then the outside of the cup can be truly clean.
27“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside, those tombs look fine. But inside, they are full of the bones of dead people, and all kinds of unclean things are there. 28It is the same with you. People look at you and think you are good. But on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and evil.
29“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets. You show honor to the graves of people who lived good lives. 30And you say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our fathers, we would not have helped them kill the prophets.’ 31But you give proof that you are children of those people who murdered the prophets. 32And you will complete the sin that your fathers started!
33“You are snakes! A family of poisonous snakes! You will not escape God. You will all be judged guilty and be sent to hell! 34So I tell you this: I am sending to you prophets and wise men and teachers. You will kill some of these people. You will nail some of them to crosses. You will beat some of them in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town. 35So you will be guilty for the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth. You will be guilty for the murder of that good man Abel. And you will be guilty for the murder of Zechariah# In the Hebrew Old Testament, the first and last men to be murdered. son of Berakiah. He was murdered when he was between the Temple and the altar. 36I tell you the truth. All of these things will happen to you people who are living now.
Jesus Feels Sorry for Jerusalem
37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and kill with stones those men God sent to you. Many times I wanted to help your people! I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me. 38Now your home will be left completely empty. 39I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord.’”# Quotation from Psalm 118:26.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.