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.' "
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Matthew 23
23
Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders
(Mk. 12:38–40; Lk. 11:37–52; 20:45–47)
1Then Jesus spoke to the people and to his followers. He 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 them. Do everything they tell you to do. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don’t do those things themselves. 4They make strict rules that are hard for people to obey. They try to force others to obey all their rules. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.
5“The only reason they do what they do is for other people to see them. They make the little Scripture boxes#23:5 Scripture boxes Small leather boxes containing four important Scriptures. Some Jews tied these to the forehead and left arm to show their devotion to God and his word. Many Pharisees made these bigger to show that they were more religious than others. they wear bigger and bigger. And they make the tassels#23:5 tassels Decorations made from wool threads that hung down from the four corners of the clothing or prayer shawls worn by Jews. They were supposed to be reminders of God’s commands (see Num. 15:38-41). on their prayer clothes long enough for people to notice them. 6These men love to have the places of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues. 7They love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces and to call them ‘Teacher.’
8“But you must not be called ‘Teacher.’ You are all equal as brothers and sisters. You have only one Teacher. 9And don’t call anyone on earth ‘Father.’ You have one Father. He is in heaven. 10And you should not be called ‘Master.’ You have only one Master, the Messiah. 11Whoever serves you like a servant is the greatest among you. 12People who think they are better than others will be made humble. But people who humble themselves will be made great.
13“It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the way for people to enter God’s kingdom. You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop those who are trying to enter. 14#23:14 Some Greek copies add verse 14: “It will be bad for you, teachers of the law and you Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You cheat widows and take their homes. Then you make long prayers so that people can see you. So you will have a worse punishment.” See Mk. 12:40; Lk. 20:47.
15“It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites. You travel across the seas and across different countries to find one person who will follow your ways. When you find that person, you make him worse than you are. And you are so bad that you belong in hell!
16“It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You guide the people, but you are blind. You say, ‘If anyone uses the name of the Temple to make a promise, that means nothing. But anyone who uses the gold that is in the Temple to make a promise must keep that promise.’ 17You are blind fools! Can’t you see that the Temple is greater than the gold on it? It’s the Temple that makes the gold holy!
18“And you say, ‘If anyone uses the altar to make a promise, that means nothing. But anyone who uses the gift on the altar to make a promise must keep that promise.’ 19You are blind! Can’t you see that the altar is greater than any gift on it? It’s the altar that makes the gift holy! 20Whoever uses the altar to make a promise is really using the altar and everything on the altar. 21And anyone who uses the Temple to make a promise is really using the Temple and God, who lives in it. 22Whoever uses heaven to make a promise is using God’s throne and the one who is seated on it.
23“It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You give God a tenth of the food you get, even your mint, dill, and cumin.#23:23 You give … cumin Literally, “You tithe mint, dill, and cumin.” The Law of Moses required Israelites to share their food supply by dedicating a tenth of their field crops and livestock to God (see Lev. 27:30-32; Deut. 26:12). This did not include such small garden plants as those mentioned here. So these Pharisees were giving more than required to be sure they were not breaking the Law. But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law—being fair, showing mercy, and being faithful. These are the things you should do. And you should also continue to do those other things. 24You guide the people, but you are blind! Think about a man picking a little fly out of his drink and then swallowing a camel! You are like that.#23:24 You are like that Meaning “You worry about the smallest mistakes but commit the biggest sin.”
25“It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You wash clean the outside of your cups and dishes. But inside they are full of what you got by cheating others and pleasing yourselves. 26Pharisees, you are blind! First make the inside of the cup clean and good. Then the outside of the cup will also be clean.
27“It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside they look fine, but inside they are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of filth. 28It is the same with you. People look at you and think you are godly. But on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and evil.
29“It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets. And you show honor to the graves of the godly people who were killed. 30And you say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have helped them kill these prophets.’ 31So you give proof that you are descendants of those who killed the prophets. 32And you will finish the sin that your ancestors started!
33“You are snakes! You are from a family of poisonous snakes! You will not escape God. You will all be judged guilty and go to hell! 34So I tell you this: I send to you prophets and teachers who are wise and know the Scriptures. You will kill some of them. You will hang some of them on crosses. You will beat some of them in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town.
35“So you will be guilty for the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth. You will be guilty for the killing of that godly man Abel. And you will be guilty for the killing of Zechariah#23:35 Abel, Zechariah In the Hebrew Old Testament, these are the first and last persons murdered. son of Berachiah. He was killed between the Temple and the altar. You will be guilty for the killing of all the good people who lived between the time of Abel and the time of Zechariah. 36Believe me when I say that all these things will happen to you people who are living now.
Jesus Warns the People of Jerusalem
(Lk. 13:34–35)
37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You stone to death those that God has sent to you. Many, 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 house will be left completely empty. 39I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’#Quote from Ps. 118:26.”
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