Matthew 23

1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2“The scribes and the Pharisees have taken Moses’ seat. 3So practice and keep whatever they tell you. But do not follow their example, because they do not live by what they teach. 4They bundle up heavy loads and pile them on the shoulders of others, but they refuse to move those loads even with a finger. 5All their deeds are done for others to watch. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. 6They are fond of the seat of honor at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, 7of respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and of hearing people address them as ‘Rabbi.’ 8But as for you, do not let anyone call you ‘Rabbi.’ There is one who is your teacher, and all of you are brothers and sisters together. 9And do not give anyone on earth the title ‘father,’ because you have one Father, the one in heaven. 10Do not be called instructors either, because you have one instructor, the Christ. 11Whoever is greatest among you will be the one who serves you. 12Those who lift themselves up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be lifted up.

13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You bar the way into the kingdom of heaven so that people cannot get in. You do not go in yourselves, and when others are on their way in, you stop them.

15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You journey across sea and land to win over one convert. Then, once you have done so, you turn that convert into someone twice as fit for hell as you are.

16Woe to you, blind guides! This is what you teach: ‘Swearing by the temple counts for nothing. But swear by the gold of the temple, and you must keep your oath.’ 17Foolish and blind! Which is greater, then: the gold, or the temple that has set the gold apart as holy? 18You also teach: ‘Swearing by the altar counts for nothing. But swear by the gift lying on it, and you must keep your oath.’ 19How blind you are! Which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sets the gift apart as holy? 20So whoever swears by the altar is swearing by the altar and by all that lies on it. 21And whoever swears by the temple is swearing by the temple and by the one who dwells there. 22And whoever swears by heaven is swearing by God’s throne and by the one seated on it.

23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You set aside for God a tenth even of your mint, dill and cumin, yet you have abandoned what weighs most in the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness. These are what you should have done, while still not abandoning the others. 24Blind guides! You sieve a gnat out of your drink and swallow a camel whole.

25Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You wash the outside of cup and plate, but inside they are filled by robbery and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! Make the inside of cup and plate clean first, so that the outside becomes clean too.

27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You resemble tombs coated with whitewash. From outside they look fine, but within they are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of uncleanness. 28You are the same. To others you look righteous from the outside, but within you are full of hypocrisy and of disregard for God’s law.

29Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You put up tombs for the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous. 30Then you declare, ‘If we had been alive when our ancestors were, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’ 31Your own words are evidence against you: you are the sons of the prophets’ murderers. 32Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors’ sins! 33You snakes! You family of snakes! How can you flee from the sentence of hell? 34That is why I am sending you prophets, sages and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will whip in your synagogues and hound from town to town. 35And so the guilt for all the innocent blood poured out on the earth will fall on you, from the blood of Abel, a righteous man, to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36Truly I tell you, all these things will fall upon this generation. 37Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You murder the prophets and stone the messengers sent to you. How many times I have wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen draws her chicks under her wings! But you refused. 38Now your house is being abandoned to you, a desolate place. 39For I tell you, from now on you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”