Matthew 23:1-36 - Seven Woes Pronounced On The Scribes And Pharisees
1 Then Jesus spake to the multitude, and to His disciples, 2 saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. 3 All, therefore, whatsoever they bid you, do and observe; but do not according to their works; for they say and do not. 4 And they bind heavy burdens, and lay them upon the shoulders of men; but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 But all their works they do with the view to be seen by men; for they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge their fringes; 6 and they love the first place in the feasts, and the front seats in the synagogues, 7 and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called by men 'Rabbi.'
8 But be not ye called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no one your father on the earth; for One is your Father, the Heavenly. 10 Neither be ye called leaders; because One is your Leader, the Christ. 11 But the greater of you shall be your minister. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.
13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for ye do not enter, neither do ye suffer those who are entering in to enter.
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15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and, when he is made such, ye make him a son of Hell twofold more than yourselves.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whosoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!' 17 Fools, and blind! for which is greater??he gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 'And whosoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon it, is a debtor!' 19 Ye blind! for which is greater??he gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 He, therefore, who swears by the altar swears by it and by all things on it; 21 and he who swears by the temple swears by it and by Him dwelling therein; 22 and he who swears by Heaven swears by the throne of God and by Him sitting thereon.
23 "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin; and have omitted the weightier things of the law??he judgment, and the mercy, and the faith; but these it was proper to have done, and those not to have omitted. 24 Blind guides! straining out the gnat, and swallowing the camel!
25 "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish; but within they are full from extortion and excess! 26 Blind Pharisees! cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the dish, that its outside also may become clean.
27 "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye are like white-washed sepulchres, which outwardly, indeed, appear beautiful, but within are full of bones of the dead and of all uncleanness. 28 So ye also outwardly, indeed, appear righteous to men; but within ye are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the righteous, and say, 30 'If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' 31 So then ye testify to yourselves that ye are sons of those who killed the prophets; 32 and fill ye up the measure of your fathers.
33 Serpents! broods of vipers! How can ye escape the judgment of Hell? 34 Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them ye will kill and crucify, and some ye will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; 35 that upon you may come all the righteous blood poured out upon the earth, from the blood of Abel, the righteous, unto the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36 Verily I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.