Luke 11:37-54

Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers

37 While Jesus[a] was speaking, 1a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table.
38 The Pharisee was astonished to see 2that he did not first wash before dinner.
39 And the Lord said to him, 3"Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of 4greed and wickedness.
40 5You fools! 6Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But 7give as alms those things that are within, and behold, 8everything is clean for you.
42 9"But woe to you Pharisees! For 10you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect 11justice and 12the love of God. 13These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
43 Woe to you Pharisees! For 14you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
44 Woe to you! 15For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it."
45 One of 16the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also."
46 And he said, "Woe to you 17lawyers also! For 18you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 19Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.
48 20So you are witnesses and you 21consent to the deeds of 22your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs.
49 Therefore also 23the Wisdom of God said, 24'I will send them 25prophets and apostles, 26some of whom they will 27kill and persecute,'
50 so that 28the blood of all the prophets, shed 29from the foundation of the world, may be 30charged against this generation,
51 from the blood of 31Abel to the blood of 32Zechariah, who perished between 33the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be 34required of this generation.
52 Woe to you 35lawyers! 36For you have taken away the key of 37knowledge. You 38did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering."
53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things,
54 39lying in wait for him, 40to catch him in something he might say.

Cross References 40

  • 1. Luke 7:36; Luke 14:1
  • 2. Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:3, 4
  • 3. Matthew 23:25, 26; [Luke 20:47]
  • 4. [Luke 16:14]
  • 5. Luke 12:20
  • 6. [See ver. 39 above]
  • 7. Luke 12:33; [Luke 16:9; Daniel 4:27]
  • 8. [Titus 1:15]
  • 9. Matthew 23:23
  • 10. Luke 18:12; Deuteronomy 14:22
  • 11. Psalms 33:5; Jeremiah 5:1; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 7:9
  • 12. [1 John 3:17]
  • 13. [1 Samuel 15:22]
  • 14. Luke 20:46; Matthew 23:6, 7; Mark 12:38, 39; [Luke 14:7]
  • 15. Matthew 23:27
  • 16. ver. 46, 52; See Luke 7:30
  • 17. ver. 45, 52
  • 18. Matthew 23:4; [Matthew 11:28-30; Acts 15:10]
  • 19. Matthew 23:29, 30
  • 20. Matthew 23:31
  • 21. See Romans 1:32
  • 22. Acts 7:51, 52
  • 23. [Luke 7:35; Prov. 8:12, 22, 23, 30; Matthew 11:19; 1 Corinthians 1:24, 30; Colossians 2:3]
  • 24. For ver. 49-51, [Matthew 23:34-36]
  • 25. See Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 12:28
  • 26. See Matthew 21:35
  • 27. 1 Thessalonians 2:15(Gk.)
  • 28. Revelation 18:24
  • 29. See Matthew 13:35
  • 30. Genesis 42:22; 2 Chronicles 24:22; Ezekiel 3:18
  • 31. Genesis 4:4, 8; Hebrews 11:4; 1 John 3:12
  • 32. 2 Chronicles 24:20, 21
  • 33. Exodus 40:6; 2 Kings 16:14; Ezekiel 40:47
  • 34. [See ver. 50 above]
  • 35. ver. 45, 46
  • 36. Matthew 23:13; [Malachi 2:7, 8]
  • 37. Romans 2:20
  • 38. [Luke 7:30; Matthew 5:20; Matthew 21:31]
  • 39. Luke 20:20; Mark 3:2; John 8:6; [Isaiah 29:21]
  • 40. Matthew 22:15; Mark 12:13

Footnotes 1

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.