and love the first place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

Beware of the scribes, who like to walk about in long robes, and love salutations in the markets, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the first places at feasts;

These are the rocks in your feasts of love, feasting together without fear, feeding only themselves; clouds without water, carried away by winds; trees in late autumn, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;