Therefore do and observe everything that they tell you, but do not do as {they do}, for they tell [others to do something] and do not do [it themselves].

They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them.

But ye shall not suffer yourselves to be called Rabbi, for one is your master, that is, to wit, Christ, and all ye are brethren.

And you must not be called 'leaders,' for you have only one Leader, and that is Christ.

He that is greatest among you, shall be your servant.

But whosoever exalteth himself, shall be brought low. And he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of the heavens before men; for ye do not enter, nor do ye suffer those that are entering to go in.

Woe be unto you, scribes and Pharisees, for ye devour widows' houses: and that, under a colour of praying long prayers, wherefore ye shall receive greater damnation.

Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You scour land and sea to make a single convert, and, when he is gained, you make him twice as deserving of the Pit as you are yourselves.

Alas for you, blind guides! that say - Whosoever shall swear by the Temple, it is, nothing, but, whosoever shall swear by the gold of the Temple, is bound:

Fools and blind [people]! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy?

And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing! But whoever swears by the gift [that is] on it is bound [by his oath].'

Blind [people]! For which [is] greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy

Therefore the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything [that is] on it.

And he that swears by the temple swears by it and by him that dwells in it.

And he that swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him that sits upon it.

Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You pay tithes on mint, fennel, and caraway seed, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law--justice, mercy, and good faith. These last you ought to have put into practice, without neglecting the first.

Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!

Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are filled with the results of greed and self-indulgence.

You blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the plate, so that the outside may become equally clean.

"A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you are like white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead people's bones and everything that is unclean!

Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You build the tombs of the Prophets, and decorate the monuments of religious men,

So that you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who put the prophets to death.

children that can't fail to fill up the measure of your fathers iniquities.

That is why I send you Prophets, wise men, and Teachers of the Law, some of whom you will crucify and kill, and some of whom you will scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute from town to town;

So that on you may come all the blood of the upright on the earth, from the blood of upright Abel to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom you put to death between the Temple and the altar.

Truly I say to you, that all these things will come upon this generation.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent unto her, how often would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

know, that your habitation shall be soon turned into a desert.

for I say unto you, Ye shall in no wise see me henceforth until ye say, Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord.

But he, answering, said to them, See you not all these things? truly I say to you that here there will not be one stone resting on another, which will not be pulled down.

And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things [you just spoke of] happen? And what will be the sign that indicates your presence and the end of the [present] age?"

And Jesus said to them in answer, Take care that you are not tricked.

And you are going to hear about wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is not yet.

All that is but the beginning of the trouble.

At that time they will turn you over to torture, and will murder you, and you will be hated by all the heathen, because you bear my name.

At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.

but he that has endured to the end, he shall be saved.

and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, to testify to all nations, that the end will then come.

When therefore ye shall see the abomination of desolation, which is spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in what is a holy place, (he that reads let him understand,)

Let not him that is on the house-top,

let not him that is on the house come down to take the things out of his house;

and let not him that is in the field turn back to take his garment.

But woe to those that are with child, and those that give suck in those days.

And say a prayer that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.

For at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will happen.

"At that time if anyone should say to you, 'Behold, here [is] the Christ,' or 'Here [he is],' do not believe [him]!

For there will come up false Christs, and false prophets, who will do great signs and wonders; so that if possible even the saints might be tricked.

For just like lightning that appears in the east can be seen even in the west, so it will be with the presence [i.e., coming] of the Son of man.

Wherever there is a dead body, [you can expect to see] vultures gathered there. [Note: This may mean that such a significant event as the coming of Christ would surely not go unnoticed].

"But immediately after the terrible trouble of those days, [i.e., the next major event on God's calendar], the sun will become dark, and [therefore] the moon will not [be able to] shed its [reflected] light. The stars will fall from the sky and the forces of the heavens will be shaken [Note: From the description of these same events in Luke 21:25-26, it is possible that this is figurative language for great calamities happening on the earth].

then shall that sign, the son of man in the clouds of heaven, appear: and all the tribes of the land shall mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.

Now take an example from the fig-tree: when her branch has become soft and puts out its leaves, you are certain that the summer is near;

Even so, when you see all these things, you may be certain that he is near, even at the doors.

Truly I say to you that this generation will never pass away until all these [things] take place!

Earth and sky will pass away, but it is certain that my words will not pass away.

But of that day and hour no one has knowledge, not even the angels in heaven, or the Son, but the Father only.

For as in the days before the flood: they did eat and drink, marry, and were married, even unto the day that Noah entered in to the ship,

They were unaware of what was happening until the flood came and swept all of them away. That's how it will be when the Son of Man comes.

At that time there will be two men [working] in a field; one will be taken [i.e., to be with the Lord. See I Thess. 4:17], while the other one will be left [i.e., to be punished by the Lord. See II Thess. 1:7-9].

But be certain of this, that if the master of the house had had knowledge of the time when the thief was coming, he would have been watching, and would not have let his house be broken into.

For this [reason] you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think [he will come].

Who, then is that trustworthy, careful servant, who has been placed by his master over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?

A blessing on that servant, who will be doing so when his lord comes.

Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

But if that evil servant says in his heart, My lord is a long time in coming;

The lord of that servant will come in a day when he is not looking for him, and in an hour of which he has no knowledge,

and will cut him in two and assign his place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!

Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be made like to ten virgins that having taken their torches, went forth to meet the bridegroom.

They that were foolish took their torches and did not take oil with them;

The bridegroom was a long time in coming, so that meanwhile they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

But the prudent answered saying, We cannot, lest it might not suffice for us and for you. Go rather to those that sell, and buy for yourselves.

But as they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and the ones that were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.

After that the other virgins came, saying, Lord, Lord, let us in.

Look that ye watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor yet the hour, when the son of man shall come.

"For the kingdom of heaven is similar to a man who planned to go on a trip to a distant country, so called his servants and entrusted to each of them a large sum of money [Note: The narrative that follows suggests that the man was turning over some of his assets to financial managers to invest for him].

And he that had received the five talents went and trafficked with them, and made five other talents.

In like manner also he that had received the two, he also gained two others.

But he that had received the one went and dug in the earth, and hid the money of his lord.

And he that had received the five talents came to him and brought five other talents, saying, My lord, thou deliveredst me five talents; behold, I have gained five other talents besides them.

And he also that had received the two talents came to him and said, My lord, thou deliveredst me two talents; behold, I have gained two other talents besides them.

And he who had had the one talent came and said, Lord, I had knowledge that you are a hard man, getting in grain where you have not put seed, and making profits for which you have done no work:

and being afraid I went away and hid thy talent in the earth; behold, thou hast that which is thine.

But his lord in answer said to him, You are a bad and unready servant; if you had knowledge that I get in grain where I did not put seed, and make profits for which I have done no work,

So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, so that when I came back I could have collected my principal with interest.

Take therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that has the ten talents:

for to every one that has shall be given, and he shall be in abundance; but from him that has not, that even which he has shall be taken from him.

And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness--in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!'

'Then shall the king say to those on his right hand, Come ye, the blessed of my Father, inherit the reign that hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

And the king shall answer and say to them, I tell you truly, that inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me.

Then he will also say to those on [his] left, 'Depart from me, [you] accursed ones, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!

Then he shall answer them saying, I tell you truly, that inasmuch as you have not done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have not done it to me.

And it happened that when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples,

"You know that after two days the Passover takes place, and the Son of Man will be handed over in order to be crucified."

and plotted in order that they could arrest Jesus by stealth and kill [him].

But they were saying, "Not during the feast, so that there will not be an uproar among the people."

When his disciples saw that, they had indignation saying, "What needed this waste?

"the perfume might have been sold for a good sum, and the poor might have got that."

When Jesus understood that, he said unto them, "Why trouble ye the woman? She hath wrought a good work upon me.

And in that she casted this ointment on my body, she did it to bury me, withal.