Thematic Bible: Ecclesiasticism


Thematic Bible



But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even Christ.

And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at table in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said to them, They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are sick. read more.
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses's seat. All therefore, whatever they bid you observe, that observe and do: but do not ye according to their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering, to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves. read more.
Woe to you, ye blind guides, who say, Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Ye fools, and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools, and blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoever therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things upon it. And whoever shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth in it. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth upon it. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ye ought to have done, and not to leave the others undone. Ye blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like whitened sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Thus ye also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye are witnesses to yourselves, that ye are the children of them who killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye will kill and crucify, and some of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt hath lost its saltness, with what will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.


Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, who were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said to them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? read more.
For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatever thou mightest be profited by me; And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called the multitude, and said to them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said to him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be extirpated. Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leadeth the blind, both will fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said to him, Declare to us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do ye not yet understand, that whatever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

And when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled (that is to say with unwashed) hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands often eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there are, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, and of brazen vessels, and tables. read more.
Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands? He answered and said to them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But, in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said to them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition, For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoever curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of no effect through your traditions, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do. And when he had called all the people to him, he said to them, Hearken to me every one of you, and understand. There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him, can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when he had entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he saith to them, Are ye so void of understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him. Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all kinds of food. And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.


And when he saw a fig-tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing on it, but leaves only, and said to it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever. And immediately the fig-tree withered. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig-tree withered!

But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go, work to-day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not; but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. read more.
Which of the two did the will of his father? They say to him, The first. Jesus saith to them, Verily I say to you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. Hear another parable; There was a certain householder, who planted a vineyard, and hedged it around, and digged a wine-press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a remote country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the first: and they did to them in like manner. But last of all he sent to them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When therefore the Lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do to those husbandmen? They say to him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith to them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore I say to you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it. And whoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.


For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on the sabbath. But he said to them, Have ye not read what David did when he was hungry, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and ate the show-bread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them who were with him, but only for the priests? read more.
Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say to you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.