Matthew 23
23
Jesus Denounces the Scribes and Pharisees
Mk. 12:38-40; Lk.11:37-52; 20:45-47
1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 stating, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on the chair of Moses. 3 Therefore, all that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their works, for they say and do not practise. 4 And they tie up heavy and oppressive burdens, and lay them on the shoulders of men, * but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 And they do all their works in order to be seen by men, for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. 6 And they love the place of honour at feasts, and the most honourable seats in the synagogues, 7 and the greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ * by men. 8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for One is your Teacher, * and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone your father on earth, for One is your Father, who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called instructors, for One is your Instructor, the Christ. 11 And the greatest among you will be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven * before men. For you neither enter yourselves, nor permit those who would enter to go in. * 15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you journey across the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, * and when he becomes so, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who assert, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is of no consequence; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 Foolish and blind people! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that consecrates the gold? 18 And you assert, * ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is of no consequence; but if anyone swears by the gift that is on it, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 Blind people! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that consecrates the gift? 20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by all things that are on it. 21 And the one who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And the one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the One who sits upon it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have disregarded the weightier matters of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without disregarding those things also. 24 Blind guides, who strain out the gnat, but swallow the camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of avarice and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that its outside also may become clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones and of every kind of impurity. 28 So you also outwardly appear to men as righteous, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been collaborators with them in the blood of the prophets!’ 31 In this manner, you testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Complete, then, the measure of your fathers’ deeds. * 33 Snakes! Offspring of vipers! By what means will you escape from the condemnation that leads to hell?
34 For this purpose, behold, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and pursue from city to city, 35 so that upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of Abel the righteous up to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will befall this generation!
Jesus Laments Over Jerusalem
Lk. 13:34-35
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How many times have I desired to gather your children together in the way a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 Behold, your house is left to you in a condition of desolation! 39 For I say to you, you will never see Me from this moment on until you say, ‘Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Notes
4 Or people , as the term is generically understood. So also vv. 5,7,13,28
7 Some ancient manuscripts repeat the word Rabbi twice
8 Some ancient manuscripts insert the name the Christ at this point, likely as a way of forming a parallel with a similar construction in v. 10
13 Greek of the heavens
13 Some ancient manuscripts expand the reading to include a parallel from Lk. 20:47, thus forming another verse, v. 14. Verse 14 then reads: But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and, as a pretext, pray at great length. For this purpose, you will receive greater condemnation
15 Or convert
16 The declarative statement you assert is supplied to the text on contextual grounds for the purpose of clarification
32 Greek the measure of your fathers
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
