King James Version KJV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
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Then Yeshua addressed the crowds and his talmidim:
2 Saying,The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
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"The Torah-teachers and the P'rushim," he said, "sit in the seat of Moshe.
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
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So whatever they tell you, take care to do it. But don't do what they do, because they talk but don't act!
4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.#rl
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They tie heavy loads onto people's shoulders but won't lift a finger to help carry them
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
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Everything they do is done to be seen by others; for they make their t'fillin broad and their tzitziyot long,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
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they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues,
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
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and they love being greeted deferentially in the marketplaces and being called `Rabbi.'
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
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"But you are not to let yourselves be called `Rabbi'; because you have one Rabbi, and you are all each other's brothers.
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
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And do not call anyone on earth `Father.' because you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
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Nor are you to let yourselves be called `leaders,' because you have one Leader, and he is the Messiah!
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
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The greatest among you must be your servant,
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
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for whoever promotes himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be promoted.
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
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"But woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P'rushim! For you are shutting the Kingdom of Heaven in people's faces, neither entering yourselves nor allowing those who wish to enter to do so.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.#rl
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Some manuscripts include verse 14: Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P'rushim! For you swallow up widow's houses while making a show of davvening at great length. Because of this your punishment will be all the worse
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
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"Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P'rushim! You go about over land and sea to make one proselyte; and when you succeed, you make him twice as fit for Gei-Hinnom as you are!
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
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"Woe to you, you blind guides! You say, `If someone swears by the Temple, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.'
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
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You blind fools! Which is more important? the gold? or the Temple which makes the gold holy?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
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And you say, `If someone swears by the altar, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the offering on the altar, he is bound.'
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?#rl
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Blind men! Which is more important? the sacrifice? or the altar which makes the sacrifice holy
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
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So someone who swears by the altar swears by it and everything on it.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.#rl
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And someone who swears by the Temple swears by it and the One who lives in it
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
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And someone who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and the One who sits on it.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
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"Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P'rushim! You pay your tithes of mint, dill and cumin; but you have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah -- justice, mercy, trust. These are the things you should have attended to -- without neglecting the others!
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
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Blind guides! -- straining out a gnat, meanwhile swallowing a camel!
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
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"Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P'rushim! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self indulgence.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
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Blind Parush! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may be clean too.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
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"Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P'rushim! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but inside are full of dead people's bones and all kinds of rottenness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
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Likewise, you appear to people from the outside to be good and honest, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and far from Torah.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
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"Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P'rushim! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the tzaddikim,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
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and you say, `Had we lived when our fathers did, we would never have taken part in killing the prophets.'
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
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In this you testify against yourselves that you are worthy descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
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Go ahead then, finish what your fathers started!
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
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"You snakes! Sons of snakes! How can you escape being condemned to Gei Hinnom?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
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Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and Torah-teachers -- some of them you will kill, indeed, you will have them executed on stakes as criminals; some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
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And so, on you will fall the guilt for all the innocent blood that has ever been shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Hevel to the blood of Z'kharyah Ben-Berekhyah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.#rl
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Yes! I tell you that all this will fall on this generation
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
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"Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
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Look! God is abandoning your house to you, leaving it desolate
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
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For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of ADONAI.'"
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.