Thematic Bible: Satire
Thematic Bible
Satire » Of jesus against hypocrites
saying: The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses seat: therefore, all things that they command you to observe, observe and do. But do not according to their works: for they command, and do not. For they bind up burdens that are heavy and hard to be borne, and lay them on the shoulders of men; but they refuse to move them with one of their fingers. read more.
And they do all their works for the purpose of being seen by men. They make their amulets broad, and enlarge the fringes of their mantles. They also love the most honorable places at suppers, and the first seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the markets, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But you must not be called Rabbi; for one is your leader, and all of you are brethren. And call no man on earth your father; for one is your Father, who is in heaven. And be not called leaders; for one is your leader, the Christ. And the greatest among you shall be your minister. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. But alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you eat up the houses of widows, and for a pretext make long prayers. For this reason, you shall receive the greater condemnation. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you close the kingdom of heaven in the face of men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you suffer those who are entering, to go in. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, you make him twofold more a child of hell than yourselves. Alas for you, blind guides! who say, Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, becomes a debtor. Fools and blind! for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gift that is on it, becomes a debtor. Fools and blind! for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all that is on it. And whoever 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, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, its justice, its mercy, and its faithfulness. These you ought to have done, and those you ought not to have neglected. Blind guides! who strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you make clean the outside of the cup and the plate; but within they are full of rapine and excess. Blind Pharisee! first make clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside of them also may be clean. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitened sepulchers, which without appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. So also you outwardly appear to men to be just, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn 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. So then you testify against yourselves, that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets. Do you also fill up the measure of your fathers. Serpents, generation of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell?
And they do all their works for the purpose of being seen by men. They make their amulets broad, and enlarge the fringes of their mantles. They also love the most honorable places at suppers, and the first seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the markets, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But you must not be called Rabbi; for one is your leader, and all of you are brethren. And call no man on earth your father; for one is your Father, who is in heaven. And be not called leaders; for one is your leader, the Christ. And the greatest among you shall be your minister. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. But alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you eat up the houses of widows, and for a pretext make long prayers. For this reason, you shall receive the greater condemnation. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you close the kingdom of heaven in the face of men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you suffer those who are entering, to go in. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, you make him twofold more a child of hell than yourselves. Alas for you, blind guides! who say, Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, becomes a debtor. Fools and blind! for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gift that is on it, becomes a debtor. Fools and blind! for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all that is on it. And whoever 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, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, its justice, its mercy, and its faithfulness. These you ought to have done, and those you ought not to have neglected. Blind guides! who strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you make clean the outside of the cup and the plate; but within they are full of rapine and excess. Blind Pharisee! first make clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside of them also may be clean. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitened sepulchers, which without appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. So also you outwardly appear to men to be just, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn 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. So then you testify against yourselves, that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets. Do you also fill up the measure of your fathers. Serpents, generation of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell?
And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, that they might entrap him in his words. And they came and said to him: Teacher, we know that you are true, and that you care for no one; for you do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Must we give, or must we not give? But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them: Why do you tempt me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it. read more.
They brought it; and he said to them: Whose image and superscription is this? They said to him: Caesar's. And Jesus answered and said to them: Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar s, and to God the things that are God s. And they were astonished at him. And the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came to him, and put a question to him, saying: Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If any man's brother die, and leave a wife, and leave no children, his brother shall take his wife, and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and dying, left no child; and the second took her, and he died, and left no child; and the third, likewise; and the seven took her, and left no child. Last of all, the woman also died. Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, of which of them shall she be the wife? for the seven had her as a wife. And Jesus answered and said to them: Do you not err for this reason, because you know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels in heaven. But concerning the dead, that they do rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, at The Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Therefore, you do greatly err. And one of the scribes came, and heard them reasoning together; and perceiving that he had answered them well, he asked him: Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him: The first commandment of all is, Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind, and with your whole strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, which is like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as your self. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to him: Teacher, in truth you have well said, that there is one God, and there is no other beside him; and to love him with the whole heart, and with the whole understanding, and with the whole soul, and with the whole strength, and to love one's neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices. And Jesus perceiving that he answered with understanding, said to him: You are not far from the kingdom of God. And no one, after that, ventured to ask him a question. And Jesus, as he was teaching in the temple, answered and said: How say the scribes that the Christ is the son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make thy enemies thy footstool. David himself, then, calls him Lord; and how is he his son? And the great multitude heard him with pleasure. And he said to them in his teaching: Beware of the scribes, who love to walk in robes, and love salutations in the markets, and the first seats in the synagogues, and the first places at suppers; who eat up the houses of widows, and, as a pretext, make long prayers: these shall receive more abundant condemnation.
They brought it; and he said to them: Whose image and superscription is this? They said to him: Caesar's. And Jesus answered and said to them: Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar s, and to God the things that are God s. And they were astonished at him. And the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came to him, and put a question to him, saying: Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If any man's brother die, and leave a wife, and leave no children, his brother shall take his wife, and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and dying, left no child; and the second took her, and he died, and left no child; and the third, likewise; and the seven took her, and left no child. Last of all, the woman also died. Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, of which of them shall she be the wife? for the seven had her as a wife. And Jesus answered and said to them: Do you not err for this reason, because you know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels in heaven. But concerning the dead, that they do rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, at The Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Therefore, you do greatly err. And one of the scribes came, and heard them reasoning together; and perceiving that he had answered them well, he asked him: Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him: The first commandment of all is, Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind, and with your whole strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, which is like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as your self. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to him: Teacher, in truth you have well said, that there is one God, and there is no other beside him; and to love him with the whole heart, and with the whole understanding, and with the whole soul, and with the whole strength, and to love one's neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices. And Jesus perceiving that he answered with understanding, said to him: You are not far from the kingdom of God. And no one, after that, ventured to ask him a question. And Jesus, as he was teaching in the temple, answered and said: How say the scribes that the Christ is the son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make thy enemies thy footstool. David himself, then, calls him Lord; and how is he his son? And the great multitude heard him with pleasure. And he said to them in his teaching: Beware of the scribes, who love to walk in robes, and love salutations in the markets, and the first seats in the synagogues, and the first places at suppers; who eat up the houses of widows, and, as a pretext, make long prayers: these shall receive more abundant condemnation.
And the Lord said to him: Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the plate; but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. Senseless men, did not he who made the outside, make the inside also? But give as charity the contents of the cup, and behold, all things are clean for you. read more.
But alas for you, Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass by the justice and the love of God; these you ought to have done, and those you ought not to have left undone. Alas for you, Pharisees! for you love the chief seat in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like graves that are not seen; and men that walk over them know it not. And one of the lawyers answered and said to him: Teacher, in saying these things, you reproach us also. He replied: Alas for you, lawyers, also! for you bind upon men burdens hard to be borne, and you yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers, Alas for you! for you build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Therefore you attest and approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their sepulchers. For this reason also the Wisdom of God said: I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and persecute, that the blood of all the prophets, which has been shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the temple; yes, I say to you, It shall be required of this generation. Alas for you, lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not go in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you prevented. And when he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very angry, and to put questions to him about many things, trying to entrap him, and seeking to lay hold on something from his mouth, that they might accuse him.
But alas for you, Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass by the justice and the love of God; these you ought to have done, and those you ought not to have left undone. Alas for you, Pharisees! for you love the chief seat in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like graves that are not seen; and men that walk over them know it not. And one of the lawyers answered and said to him: Teacher, in saying these things, you reproach us also. He replied: Alas for you, lawyers, also! for you bind upon men burdens hard to be borne, and you yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers, Alas for you! for you build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Therefore you attest and approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their sepulchers. For this reason also the Wisdom of God said: I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and persecute, that the blood of all the prophets, which has been shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the temple; yes, I say to you, It shall be required of this generation. Alas for you, lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not go in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you prevented. And when he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very angry, and to put questions to him about many things, trying to entrap him, and seeking to lay hold on something from his mouth, that they might accuse him.