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
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.
10 Nor
are you to
be called
instructors,
for you
have one
Instructor,
the
Messiah.
11 The
greatest
among you
will be
your
servant.
12 For
those who
exalt
themselves
will be
humbled,
and those
who humble
themselves
will be
exalted.
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law
and the
Pharisees
13>14 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
15 “Woe
to you,
teachers
of the law
and
Pharisees,
you
hypocrites!
You travel
over land
and sea to
win a
single
convert,
and when
you have
succeeded,
you make
them twice
as much a
child of
hell as
you are.
16 “Woe
to you,
blind
guides!
You say,
‘If anyone
swears by
the
temple, it
means
nothing;
but anyone
who swears
by the
gold of
the temple
is bound
by that
oath.’
17 You
blind
fools!
Which is
greater:
the gold,
or the
temple
that makes
the gold
sacred?
18 You
also say,
‘If anyone
swears by
the altar,
it means
nothing;
but anyone
who swears
by the
gift on
the altar
is bound
by that
oath.’
19 You
blind men!
Which is
greater:
the gift,
or the
altar that
makes the
gift
sacred?
20 Therefore,
anyone who
swears by
the altar
swears by
it and by
everything
on it.
21 And
anyone who
swears by
the temple
swears by
it and by
the one
who dwells
in it.
22 And
anyone who
swears by
heaven
swears by
God’s
throne and
by the one
who sits
on it.
23 “Woe
to you,
teachers
of the law
and
Pharisees,
you
hypocrites!
You give a
tenth of
your
spices—mint,
dill and
cumin. But
you have
neglected
the more
important
matters of
the
law—justice,
mercy and
faithfulness.
You should
have
practiced
the
latter,
without
neglecting
the
former.
24 You
blind
guides!
You strain
out a gnat
but
swallow a
camel.
25 “Woe
to you,
teachers
of the law
and
Pharisees,
you
hypocrites!
You clean
the
outside of
the cup
and dish,
but inside
they are
full of
greed and
self-indulgence.
26 Blind
Pharisee!
First
clean the
inside of
the cup
and dish,
and then
the
outside
also will
be clean.
27 “Woe
to you,
teachers
of the law
and
Pharisees,
you
hypocrites!
You are
like
whitewashed
tombs,
which look
beautiful
on the
outside
but on the
inside are
full of
the bones
of the
dead and
everything
unclean.
28 In
the same
way, on
the
outside
you appear
to people
as
righteous
but on the
inside you
are full
of
hypocrisy
and
wickedness.
29 “Woe
to you,
teachers
of the law
and
Pharisees,
you
hypocrites!
You build
tombs for
the
prophets
and
decorate
the graves
of the
righteous.
30 And
you say,
‘If we had
lived in
the days
of our
ancestors,
we would
not have
taken part
with them
in
shedding
the blood
of the
prophets.’
31 So
you
testify
against
yourselves
that you
are the
descendants
of those
who
murdered
the
prophets.
32 Go
ahead,
then, and
complete
what your
ancestors
started!
33 “You
snakes!
You brood
of vipers!
How will
you escape
being
condemned
to hell?
34 Therefore
I am
sending
you
prophets
and sages
and
teachers.
Some of
them you
will kill
and
crucify;
others you
will flog
in your
synagogues
and pursue
from town
to town.
35 And
so upon
you will
come all
the
righteous
blood that
has been
shed on
earth,
from the
blood of
righteous
Abel to
the blood
of
Zechariah
son of
Berekiah,
whom you
murdered
between
the temple
and the
altar.
36 Truly
I tell
you, all
this will
come on
this
generation.
37 “Jerusalem,
Jerusalem,
you who
kill the
prophets
and stone
those sent
to you,
how often
I have
longed to
gather
your
children
together,
as a hen
gathers
her chicks
under her
wings, and
you were
not
willing.
38 Look,
your house
is left to
you
desolate.
39 For
I tell
you, you
will not
see me
again
until you
say,
‘Blessed
is he who
comes in
the name
of the
Lord.’”