Matthew 23:23-34

23 1"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For 2you tithe mint and dill and 3cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: 4justice and mercy and faithfulness. 5These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing 6a camel!
25 7"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For 8you clean the outside of 9the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of 10greed and self-indulgence.
26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of 11the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 12"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like 13whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and 14all uncleanness.
28 So you also 15outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of 16hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 17"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
30 saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are 18sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32 19Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
33 You serpents, 20you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to 21hell?
34 22Therefore 23I send you 24prophets and wise men and 25scribes, 26some of whom you will kill and crucify, and 27some you will 28flog in your synagogues and 29persecute from town to town,

Cross References 29

  • 1. Luke 11:42
  • 2. Deuteronomy 14:22; [Luke 18:12]
  • 3. Isaiah 28:25, 27
  • 4. Psalms 33:5; Jeremiah 5:1; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 7:9
  • 5. [1 Samuel 15:22]
  • 6. Matthew 19:24
  • 7. For ver. 25-28, [Matthew 15:11-20]
  • 8. Luke 11:39, 40
  • 9. Mark 7:4
  • 10. Luke 16:14; Luke 20:47
  • 11. [See ver. 25 above]
  • 12. Luke 11:44
  • 13. [Acts 23:3]
  • 14. Ephesians 5:3; [Numbers 19:16; 2 Kings 23:16]
  • 15. ver. 5
  • 16. Luke 12:1
  • 17. Luke 11:47, 48
  • 18. Acts 7:51, 52
  • 19. Genesis 15:16; Daniel 8:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:15, 16
  • 20. Matthew 3:7; Matthew 12:34
  • 21. ver. 15
  • 22. For ver. 34-36, [Luke 11:49-51]
  • 23. Matthew 10:16
  • 24. See Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 12:28
  • 25. Matthew 13:52
  • 26. See Matthew 21:35
  • 27. See Matthew 21:35
  • 28. Matthew 10:17; Mark 13:9; Luke 21:12; Acts 22:19; Acts 26:11; [Luke 12:11]
  • 29. Matthew 10:23
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.