Matthew 23 (New American Standard)

Pharisaism Exposed

1 ¹Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying : "²The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses ; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds ; for they say things and do not do them. 4 "³They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5 "But they do all their deeds ⁴to be noticed by men ; for they ⁵broaden their ^aphylacteries and lengthen ⁶the tassels of their garments. 6 "They ⁷love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called ⁸Rabbi by men. 8 "But ⁹do not be called ¹⁰Rabbi ; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 "Do not call anyone on earth your father ; for ¹¹One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 "Do not be called ^bleaders ; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11 "¹²But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 "¹³Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled ; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Eight Woes

13 "¹⁴But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, ¹⁵because you shut off the kingdom of heaven ^cfrom ^dpeople ; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 ["^eWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ¹⁶you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers ; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.] 15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one ^f17proselyte ; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of ^g18hell as yourselves. 16 "Woe to you, ¹⁹blind guides, who say, '²⁰Whoever swears by the ^htemple, that is nothing ; but whoever swears by the gold of the ⁱtemple is obligated.' 17 "You fools and blind men ! ²¹Which is ^jmore important, the gold or the ^ktemple that sanctified the gold ? 18 "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the ^loffering on it, he is obligated.' 19 "You blind men, ²²which is ^mmore important, the ⁿoffering, or the altar that sanctifies the ^ooffering ? 20 "Therefore, ^pwhoever swears by the altar, swears both by ^qthe altar and by everything on it. 21 "And ^rwhoever swears by the ^stemple, swears both by ^tthe temple and by Him who ²³dwells within it. 22 "And ^uwhoever swears by heaven, ²⁴swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. 23 "²⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For you tithe mint and dill and ^vcummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law : justice and mercy and faithfulness ; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 "You ²⁶blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel ! 25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For ²⁷you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full ^wof robbery and self-indulgence. 26 "You blind Pharisee, first ²⁸clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. 27 "²⁹Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 "³⁰Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 "So you testify against yourselves, that you ³¹are ^xsons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 "Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 "You serpents, ³²you brood of vipers, how ^ywill you escape the ^zsentence of ^aa33hell ? 34 "³⁴Therefore , behold, ³⁵I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes ; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will ³⁶scourge in your synagogues, and ³⁷persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ³⁸Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the ³⁹son of Berechiah, whom ⁴⁰you murdered between the ^bbtemple and the altar. 36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon ⁴¹this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

37 "⁴²Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who ⁴³kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ⁴⁴the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling . 38 "Behold, ⁴⁵your house is being left to you desolate ! 39 "For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, '⁴⁶BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD !' "