Matthew 23:13-24

13 "But woe ¹to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you ²shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you ³neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.^[a]

15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single ⁴proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a ⁵child of ⁶hell^[b] as yourselves.

16 "Woe to ⁷you, ⁸blind guides, who say, ⁹'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'

17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or ¹⁰the temple that has made the gold sacred?

18 And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by ¹¹the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.'

19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ¹²the altar that makes the gift sacred?

20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by ¹³him who dwells in it.#rl

22 And whoever swears by ¹⁴heaven swears by ¹⁵the throne of God and by ¹⁶him who sits upon it.

23 ¹⁷"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ¹⁸you tithe mint and dill and ¹⁹cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: ²⁰justice and mercy and faithfulness. ²¹These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ²²a camel!

Cross References

• 1. Luke 11:52
• 2. [Matthew 16:19]
• 3. [Matthew 5:20; Matthew 21:31; Luke 7:30]
• 4. Acts 2:10; Acts 6:5; Acts 13:43
• 5. [John 17:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3]
• 6. See Matthew 5:29
• 7. See Matthew 15:14
• 8. ver. 17, 19, 26; John 9:39-41; Romans 2:19; 2 Peter 1:9; Revelation 3:17
• 9. [Matthew 5:33-35]
• 10. Exodus 30:29
• 11. Matthew 5:23
• 12. Exodus 29:37
• 13. 1 Kings 8:13; 2 Chronicles 6:2; Psalms 26:8; Psalms 132:14
• 14. [Matthew 21:25]
• 15. See Matthew 5:34
• 16. See Revelation 4:2
• 17. Luke 11:42
• 18. Deuteronomy 14:22; [Luke 18:12]
• 19. Isaiah 28:25, 27
• 20. Psalms 33:5; Jeremiah 5:1; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 7:9
• 21. [1 Samuel 15:22]
• 22. Matthew 19:24

Footnotes

• [a]. Some manuscripts add here (or after verse 12) verse 14: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation
• [b]. Greek Gehenna; also verse 33