But when John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he told them, "You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

because I tell you, unless your righteousness greatly exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom from heaven!"

The Pharisees saw this and asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

Then John's disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don't fast?"

But the Pharisees kept saying, "He drives out demons by the ruler of demons."

When the Pharisees saw this, they told him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"

The Pharisees, however, went out and plotted against Jesus to kill him.

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons."

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees told Jesus, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you."

Then some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked,

Then the disciples came and asked him, "Do you realize that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?"

When the Pharisees and Sadducees arrived, in order to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

Jesus told them, "Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!"

How can you fail to understand that I wasn't talking to you about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!"

Then they understood that he did not say to beware of the yeast used in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Some Pharisees came to him in order to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?"

When the high priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was talking about them.

Then the Pharisees went and planned how to trap Jesus in conversation.

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they met together in the same place.

While the Pharisees were still gathered, Jesus asked them,

"The scribes and the Pharisees administer the authority of Moses,

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom from heaven in people's faces. You don't go in yourselves, and you don't allow those who are trying to enter to go in.

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows' houses and say long prayers to cover it up. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation!

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when this happens you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your mint, dill, and cummin, but have neglected the more important matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others.

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that its outside may also be clean.

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people's bones and every kind of impurity.

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.

The following day (that is, after the Day of Preparation), the high priests and Pharisees gathered before Pilate

When the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, "Why does he eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees would fast regularly. Some people came and asked Jesus, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples don't fast?"

The Pharisees asked him, "Look! Why are they doing what is not lawful on Sabbath days?"

Immediately the Pharisees and Herodians went out and began to plot how to kill him.

The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus.

(The Pharisees and indeed all the Jewish people don't eat unless they wash their hands properly, following the tradition of their elders.

So the Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with unclean hands."

The Pharisees arrived and began arguing with Jesus. They tested him by demanding from him a sign from heaven.

Jesus had been warning them, "Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!"

Some Pharisees came to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"

Then they sent some Pharisees and some Herodians to him, intending to trap him in what he said.

One day, as Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law happened to be sitting nearby. The people had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present to heal them.

The scribes and the Pharisees began to argue among themselves, saying, "Who is this man who is uttering blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

The Pharisees and their scribes started complaining to Jesus' disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"

Then they told him, "John's disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do those of the Pharisees. But your disciples keep right on eating and drinking."

Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what isn't lawful on Sabbath days?"

The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, in order to find a way of accusing him of doing something wrong.

But the Pharisees and the experts in the Law rejected God's plan for themselves by refusing to be baptized by John.

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. So he went to the Pharisee's home and took his place at the table.

There was a woman who was a notorious sinner in that city. When she learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's home, she took an alabaster jar of perfume

Now the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and told himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who is touching him and what kind of woman she is. She's a sinner!"

After Jesus had said this, a Pharisee invited him to have a meal with him. So Jesus went and took his place at the table.

The Pharisee was surprised to see that he didn't first wash before the meal.

But the Lord told him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but on the inside you are full of greed and evil.

"How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give a tenth of your mint, spices, and every kind of herb, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others.

How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You love to have the places of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplaces.

As Jesus was leaving, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely, interrogating him about many things.

Meanwhile, the people had gathered by the thousands and were trampling on one another. Jesus began to speak first to his disciples. "Watch out for the yeast that is, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees!

At that hour some Pharisees came and told Jesus, "Leave and get away from here, because Herod wants to kill you!"

One Sabbath, Jesus went to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal. The guests were watching Jesus closely.

So Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the Law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?"

But the Pharisees and the scribes kept complaining, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Now the Pharisees, who love money, had been listening to all this and began to ridicule Jesus.

Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display.

"Two men went up to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, "O God, I thank you that I'm not like other people thieves, dishonest people, adulterers, or even this tax collector.

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd told Jesus, "Teacher, tell your disciples to be quiet."

Now those men had been sent from the Pharisees.

Now there was a man from the Pharisees, a leader of the Jews, whose name was Nicodemus.

Now when Jesus realized that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John

The Pharisees heard the crowd debating these things about him, so the high priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus.

Then the officers returned to the high priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him?"

Then the Pharisees replied to them, "You haven't been deceived, too, have you?

None of the authorities or Pharisees has believed in him, have they?

But the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. After setting her before them,

The Pharisees told him, "You're testifying about yourself. Your testimony isn't valid."

So they brought to the Pharisees the man who had once been blind.

So the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had gained his sight. He told them, "He put mud on my eyes, then I washed, and now I can see."

Some of the Pharisees began to remark, "This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath." But others were saying, "How can a sinful man perform such signs?" And there was a division among them.

Some of the Pharisees who were near him overheard this and asked him, "We aren't blind, too, are we?"

Some of them, however, went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

So the high priests and the Pharisees assembled the Council and said, "What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs.

Now the high priests and the Pharisees had given orders that whoever knew where he was should tell them so that they could arrest him.

Then the Pharisees told one another, "You see, there is nothing you can do. Look, the world has gone after him!"

Yet many people, even some of the authorities, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not admit it so they would not be thrown out of the synagogue.

So Judas took a detachment of soldiers and some officers from the high priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while.

But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The gentiles must be circumcised and ordered to keep the Law of Moses."

When Paul saw that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted in the Council, "Brothers, I'm a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I'm on trial concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected."

After he said that, an angry quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided,

because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and that there is no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all those things.

There was a great deal of shouting until some of the scribes who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and argued forcefully, "We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"

They have known for a long time, if they would but testify to it, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the standards of our strictest religious party.

Having been circumcised on the eighth day, I am of the nation of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. As far as the Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee.