Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible




"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites!--because you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean!


We are not commending ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to boast about us, in order that you may have [an answer] for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.

You are looking at things according to appearance. If anyone is convinced he himself is Christ's, he should consider this concerning himself again: that just as Christ himself [is], so also [are] we.

For if someone enters into your assembly in fine clothing with a gold ring on his finger, and a poor person in filthy clothing also enters, and you look favorably on the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, "Be seated here in a good place," and to the poor person you say, "You stand or be seated there by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?



"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites!--because you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean!


We are not commending ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to boast about us, in order that you may have [an answer] for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.

You are looking at things according to appearance. If anyone is convinced he himself is Christ's, he should consider this concerning himself again: that just as Christ himself [is], so also [are] we.

For if someone enters into your assembly in fine clothing with a gold ring on his finger, and a poor person in filthy clothing also enters, and you look favorably on the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, "Be seated here in a good place," and to the poor person you say, "You stand or be seated there by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?


{Now when the feast was already half over}, Jesus went to the temple [courts] and began to teach. Then the Jews were astonished, saying, "How does this man {possess knowledge}, [because he] has not been taught?" So Jesus answered them and said, "My teaching is not mine, but [is] from the one who sent me. read more.
If anyone wants to do his will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or I am speaking from myself. The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of the one who sent him--this one is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Has not Moses given you the law, and none of you carries out the law? Why do you seek to kill me?" The crowd replied, "You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?" Jesus answered and said to them, "I performed one work, and you are all astonished. Because of this Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses would not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to outward appearance, but judge according to righteous judgment!" Then some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem began to say, "Is this not [the one] whom they are seeking to kill? And behold, he is speaking openly and they are saying nothing to him! Can it be that the rulers truly know that this man is the Christ? Yet we know where this man is from, but the Christ, whenever he comes--no one knows where he is from!" Then Jesus cried out in the temple [courts], teaching and saying, "You both know me and you know where I am from! And I have not come from myself, but the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know. I know him, because I am from him and he sent me." So they were seeking to seize him, and no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. But from the crowd many believed in him and were saying, "Whenever the Christ comes, he will not perform more signs than this man has done, [will he]?" The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these [things] about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers in order {to take him into custody }. Then Jesus said, "Yet a little time I am with you, and I am going to the one who sent me. You will seek me and will not find [me], and where I am, you cannot come." So the Jews said to one another, "Where [is] this one going to go, that we will not find him? He is not going to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, [is he]? What is this saying that he said, 'You will seek me and will not find [me], and where I am, you cannot come'?" Now on the last day of the feast--the great [day]--Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink, the one who believes in me. Just as the scripture said, 'Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.'" Now he said this concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. For the Spirit was not yet [given], because Jesus had not yet been glorified.) Then, [when they] heard these words, [some] from the crowd began to say, "This man is truly the Prophet!" Others were saying, "This man is the Christ!" But others were saying, "No, for the Christ does not come from Galilee, [does he]? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" So there was a division in the crowd because of him. And some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid hands on him. So the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees. And they said to them, "{Why} did you not bring him?" The officers replied, "Never has a man spoken like this!" Then the Pharisees replied to them, "You have not also been deceived, [have you]? {None} of the rulers or of the Pharisees have believed in him, [have they]? But this crowd who does not know the law is accursed!" Nicodemus, the one who came to him previously--who was one of them--said to them, "Our law does not condemn a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, [does it]?" They answered and said to him, "You are not also from Galilee, [are you]? Investigate and see that a prophet does not arise from Galilee!" [[ And each one went to his [own] house.




You shall not subvert justice; you shall not {show partiality}; and you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe makes blind [the] eyes of [the] wise and misrepresents [the] words of [the] righteous.

You will not {follow} a majority for evil, and you will not testify concerning a legal dispute to turn aside after a majority to pervert [justice]. You will not be partial to a powerless [person] in his legal dispute.

" 'You shall not do injustice in judgment; {you shall not show partiality to the powerless}; you shall not give preference {to the powerful}; you shall judge your fellow citizen with justice.

You must not {be partial} {in your judgment}; hear [out] the small [person] as [also] the great [person]; {do not be intimidated by any person}, because the judgment [is] God's; and the case that is too difficult for you, bring [it] to me, and I will hear it [out].'

Being partial [to] faces of evil [is] not good, [nor] to subvert the righteous at the judgment.

These [sayings] are also for the wise: {Partiality} in judgment is not good.



And at that time I instructed your judges, saying, '{hear out your fellow men}, and [then] judge fairly between a man and between his brother and between {his opponent who is a resident alien}. You must not {be partial} {in your judgment}; hear [out] the small [person] as [also] the great [person]; {do not be intimidated by any person}, because the judgment [is] God's; and the case that is too difficult for you, bring [it] to me, and I will hear it [out].'

" 'You shall not do injustice in judgment; {you shall not show partiality to the powerless}; you shall not give preference {to the powerful}; you shall judge your fellow citizen with justice.

And he appointed judges in the land and in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city. And he said to the judges, "Consider what you are doing, for you are not judging for a man but for Yahweh. Now [he is] with you in speaking justice. So now, let the fear of Yahweh be upon you all. {Be careful what you do}, for there is neither wickedness nor {showing partiality} and taking bribes with Yahweh our God."



"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites!--because you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean!


We are not commending ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to boast about us, in order that you may have [an answer] for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.

You are looking at things according to appearance. If anyone is convinced he himself is Christ's, he should consider this concerning himself again: that just as Christ himself [is], so also [are] we.

For if someone enters into your assembly in fine clothing with a gold ring on his finger, and a poor person in filthy clothing also enters, and you look favorably on the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, "Be seated here in a good place," and to the poor person you say, "You stand or be seated there by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?


And behold, [there was] a man who had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?" in order that they could accuse him. But he said to them, "What man will there be among you who will have one sheep and if this one fell into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift [it] out? Then to what degree [is] a man worth more than a sheep? So then, it is permitted to do good on the Sabbath." read more.
Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand," and he stretched [it] out, and it was restored [as] healthy as the other [one].

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, a woman [was there] who had a spirit {that had disabled her} [for] eighteen years, and she was bent over and not able to straighten herself up completely. And [when he] saw her, Jesus summoned [her] and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your disability!" read more.
And he placed [his] hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, answered [and] said to the crowd, "There are six days on which it is necessary to work. Therefore come [and] be healed on them, and not on the day of the Sabbath!" But the Lord answered and said to him, "Hypocrites! Does not each one of you untie his ox or [his] donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead [it] away to water [it]? And this woman, who is a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound {eighteen} long years--is it not necessary that she be released from this bond on the day of the Sabbath?" And [when] he said these [things], all those who opposed him were humiliated, and the whole crowd was rejoicing at all the splendid things that were being done by him.

The man went and reported to the Jews that Jesus was the one who made him well. And on account of this the Jews began to persecute Jesus, because he was doing these [things] on the Sabbath. But he answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." read more.
So on account of this the Jews were seeking even more to kill him, because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own Father, [thus] making himself equal with God.

And behold, a certain man was in front of him, suffering from edema. And Jesus answered [and] said to the legal experts and Pharisees, saying, "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath, or not?" But they remained silent. And he took hold of [him] [and] healed him, and sent [him] away. read more.
And he said to them, "Who among you, [if your] son or [your] ox falls into a well on the day of the Sabbath, will not immediately pull him out?"

Jesus answered and said to them, "I performed one work, and you are all astonished. Because of this Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses would not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole man well on the Sabbath? read more.
Do not judge according to outward appearance, but judge according to righteous judgment!"


Jesus replied to him, "I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple [courts] where all the Jews assemble, and I have said nothing in secret.

And they came again to Jerusalem. And [as] he was walking in the temple [courts], the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came up to him and said to him, "By what authority are you doing these [things], or who gave you this authority that you do these [things]?" So Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these [things]. read more.
The baptism of John--was [it] from heaven or from men? Answer me!" And they began to discuss [this] with one another, saying, "What should we say? If we say 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men'"--they were afraid of the crowd, because they all looked upon John {as truly a prophet}. And they replied to Jesus saying, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these [things]."

And continuing, Jesus said [while] teaching in the temple [courts], "How can the scribes say that the Christ is David's son? David himself said by the Holy Spirit, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet." ' David himself calls him 'Lord,' and how is he his son?" And the large crowd was listening to him gladly. read more.
And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like walking around in long robes and greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets, who devour the houses of widows and pray lengthy [prayers] for the sake of appearance. These will receive more severe condemnation!" And he sat down opposite the contribution box [and] was observing how the crowd was putting coins into the contribution box. And many rich people were putting in many [coins]. And one poor widow came [and] put in two small copper coins (that is, a penny). And summoning his disciples, he said to them, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow put in more than all those who put [offerings] into the contribution box. For they all {contributed} out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in everything she had, her whole means of subsistence."

Every day I was with you in the temple [courts] teaching, and you did not arrest me! But [this has happened] in order that the scriptures would be fulfilled.

After these [things] Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "Look, you have become well! Sin no longer, lest something worse happen to you." The man went and reported to the Jews that Jesus was the one who made him well. And on account of this the Jews began to persecute Jesus, because he was doing these [things] on the Sabbath. read more.
But he answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working."

{Now when the feast was already half over}, Jesus went to the temple [courts] and began to teach. Then the Jews were astonished, saying, "How does this man {possess knowledge}, [because he] has not been taught?" So Jesus answered them and said, "My teaching is not mine, but [is] from the one who sent me. read more.
If anyone wants to do his will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or I am speaking from myself. The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of the one who sent him--this one is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Has not Moses given you the law, and none of you carries out the law? Why do you seek to kill me?" The crowd replied, "You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?" Jesus answered and said to them, "I performed one work, and you are all astonished. Because of this Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses would not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to outward appearance, but judge according to righteous judgment!" Then some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem began to say, "Is this not [the one] whom they are seeking to kill? And behold, he is speaking openly and they are saying nothing to him! Can it be that the rulers truly know that this man is the Christ? Yet we know where this man is from, but the Christ, whenever he comes--no one knows where he is from!" Then Jesus cried out in the temple [courts], teaching and saying, "You both know me and you know where I am from! And I have not come from myself, but the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know.

and Jesus was walking in the temple in the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews surrounded him and began to say to him, "{How long will you keep us in suspense}? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly!" Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe! The deeds that I do in the name of my Father, these testify about me. read more.
But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep! My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish {forever}, and no one will seize them out of my hand. My Father, who has given [them] to me, is greater than all, and no one can seize [them] from the Father's hand. The Father and I are one." Then the Jews picked up stones again so that they could stone him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good deeds from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "We are not going to stone you concerning a good deed, but concerning blasphemy, and because you, [although you] are a man, make yourself [to be] God!" Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '? If he called them 'gods' to whom the word of God came--and the scripture cannot be broken-- do you say about [he] whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I do not do the deeds of my Father, do not believe me. But if I am doing [them], even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, so that you may know and understand that the Father [is] in me and I [am] in the Father."