29 As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, "1Thisgeneration is a wickedgeneration; it 2seeks for a sign, and yet nosign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah.
30
"For just as 3Jonahbecame a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to thisgeneration.
31
"The 4Queen of the South will rise up with the men of thisgeneration at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, somethinggreater than Solomon is here.
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"The men of Nineveh will stand up with thisgeneration at the judgment and condemn it, because5they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, somethinggreater than Jonah is here.
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"6Noone, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellarnorunder a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.
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"7The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your wholebodyalso is full of light; but when it is bad, your bodyalso is full of darkness.
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"Thenwatch out that the light in you is not darkness.
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"Iftherefore your wholebody is full of light, with no*darkpart in it, it will be whollyillumined, as when the lampillumines you with its rays."
Woes upon the Pharisees
37Nowwhen He had spoken, a Phariseeasked Him to havelunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table.
38
When the Phariseesaw it, he was surprised that He had not first8ceremoniallywashedbefore the meal.
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But 9the Lordsaid to him, "Now10you Phariseesclean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.
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"11You foolishones, did not He who made the outsidemake the insidealso?
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"But 12give that which is within as charity, and thenallthings are 13clean for you.
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"14But woe to you Pharisees! For you 15paytithe of mint and rue and every kind of gardenherb, and yet disregardjustice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have donewithoutneglecting the others.
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"Woe to you Pharisees! For you 16love the chiefseats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
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"17Woe to you! For you are likeconcealedtombs, and the people who walkover them are unaware of it."
45
One of the 18lawyerssaid to Him in reply, "Teacher, when You saythis, You insult us too."
46
But He said, "Woe to you 19lawyers as well! For 20you weighmendown with burdenshard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
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"21Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them.
48
"So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs.
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"For thisreasonalso22the wisdom of Godsaid, '23I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute,
50
so that the blood of all the prophets, shed24since the foundation of the world, may be chargedagainstthisgeneration,
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from 25the blood of Abel to 26the blood of Zechariah, who was killedbetween the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be chargedagainstthisgeneration.'
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"Woe to you 27lawyers! For you have takenaway the key of knowledge; 28you yourselves did not enter, and you hinderedthose who were entering."
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When He leftthere, the scribes and the Phariseesbegan to be veryhostile and to question Him closely on manysubjects,
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29plottingagainst Him 30to catch Him in something He might say*.