Matthew 23:1-9

A Warning Against Hypocrisy

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:

2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries^[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long;

6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;

7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.

Cross References

• 1. Ezra 7:6,25; Nehemiah 8:4
• 2. Luke 11:46; Acts 15:10; Galatians 6:13
• 3. Mt 6:1,2,5,16
• 4. Exodus 13:9; Deuteronomy 6:8
• 5. Numbers 15:38; Deuteronomy 22:12
• 6. Luke 11:43; Luke 14:7; Luke 20:46
• 7. ver 8; Matthew 26:25,49; Mark 9:5; Mark 10:51; John 1:38,49; John 3:2,26; John 20:16
• 8. Malachi 1:6; Matthew 6:9; Matthew 7:11

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm