Parallel Bible results for "matthew 23"

Matthew 23

Hebrew Names Version HNV

1 Then Yeshua spoke to the multitudes and to his talmidim,

2 saying, "The Sofrim and the Perushim sat on Moshe' seat.

3 All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don't do their works; for they say, and don't do.

4 For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them

5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their tefillin broad, enlarge the tzitziyot of their garments,

6 and love the chief place at feasts, the chief seats in the synagogues,

7 the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called 'Rabbi, Rabbi' by men.

8 But don't you be called 'Rabbi,' for one is your teacher, the Messiah, and all of you are brothers.

9 Call no man on the eretz your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.

10 Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Messiah.

11 But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.

12 Whoever will exalt himself will be humbled, and whoever will humble himself will be exalted.

13 "Woe to you, Sofrim and Perushim, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

14 "But woe to you, Sofrim and Perushim, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don't enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter

15 Woe to you, Sofrim and Perushim, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much of a son of Gehinnom as yourselves.

16 "Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.'

17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

18 'Whoever will swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever will swear by the gift that is on it, he is a debtor.'

19 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift

20 He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.

21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who is living in it

22 He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.

23 "Woe to you, Sofrim and Perushim, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.

24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!

25 "Woe to you, Sofrim and Perushim, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.

26 You blind Parush, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside of it may become clean also.

27 "Woe to you, Sofrim and Perushim, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 "Woe to you, Sofrim and Perushim, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous,

30 and say, 'If we had been in the days of our fathers, we wouldn't have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'

31 Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are sons of those who killed the prophets.

32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehinnom?

34 Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and Sofrim. Some of them will you kill and crucify; and some of them will you scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;

35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the eretz, from the blood of Hevel the righteous to the blood of Zekharyah son of Berekhyah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.

36 Most assuredly I tell you, all these things will come on this generation

37 "Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not!

38 Behold, your house is left to you desolate

39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

The Message Bible MSG

1 Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them.

2 "The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God's Law.

3 You won't go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It's all spit-and-polish veneer.

4 "Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help

5 Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next.

6 They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions,

7 preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend.'

8 "Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates.

9 Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of 'Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven.

10 And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them - Christ.

11 "Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant.

12 If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

13 "I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won't let anyone else in either.

15 "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.

16 "You're hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, 'If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that's nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that's serious.'

17 What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands?

18 And what about this piece of trivia: 'If you shake hands on a promise, that's nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that's serious'?

19 What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands

20 A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.

21

22

23 "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God's Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment - the absolute basics! - you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required.

24 Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that's wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?

25 "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony.

26 Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.

27 "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh.

28 People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds.

29 "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints.

30 And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands.

31 You protest too much! You're cut from the same cloth as those murderers,

32 and daily add to the death count.

33 "Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper?

34 It's on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation - and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.

35 "You can't squirm out of this: Every drop of righteous blood ever spilled on this earth, beginning with the blood of that good man Abel right down to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah's son, whom you murdered at his prayers, is on your head.

36 All this, I'm telling you, is coming down on you, on your generation

37 "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God's news! How often I've ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn't let me.

38 And now you're so desolate, nothing but a ghost town

39 What is there left to say? Only this: I'm out of here soon. The next time you see me you'll say, 'Oh, God has blessed him! He's come, bringing God's rule!'"