Matthew 23
1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples:
Then Jesus, speaking to the crowds and to his disciples, said,
2 “The religious teachers and the Pharisees are responsible as interpreters of the law of Moses,
‘The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees now occupy the chair of Moses.
3 so obey them and do everything they tell you. But don't follow what they do, because they don't practice what they preach.
Therefore practice and lay to heart everything that they preach but do not practice.
4 They tie up heavy burdens, and place them on people's shoulders, but they themselves don't lift a finger to help them.
While they make up heavy loads and pile them on other people’s shoulder’s they decline, themselves, to lift a finger to move them.
5 Everything they do is to make sure they get noticed. They make themselves large prayer boxes to wear and long tassels on their clothes.
All their actions are done to attract attention. They widen their phylacteries, and increase the size of their tassels,
6 They love to have the places of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues.
and like to have the place of honour at dinner, and the best seats in the synagogues,
7 They love to be greeted with respect in the market places, and for people to call them, ‘Rabbi.’
and to be greeted in the markets with respect, and to be called “Rabbi” by everybody.
8 Don't let people call you ‘Rabbi.’ Only one is your Master Teacher, and you are all brothers.
But do not allow yourselves to be called “Rabbi,” for you have only one teacher, and you yourselves are all brothers and sisters.
9 Don't call anyone by the title ‘Father’ here on earth. Only one is your Father, who is in heaven.
And do not call anyone on the earth your “Father,” for your have only one Father, the heavenly Father.
10 Don't let people call you ‘Teacher.’ Only one is your Teacher, the Messiah.
Nor must you allow yourselves to be called “leaders,” for you have only one leader, the Christ.
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
The person who wants to be the greatest among you must be your servant.
12 Those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great.
Whoever exalts themselves will be humbled, and whoever humbles themselves will be exalted.
13 But what a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You slam shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves don't go in, yet you don't let anyone in who is trying to enter.
But alas for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You turn the key of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you do not go in yourselves, and do not allow those who try to go in to do so.
15 What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when you do, you make him twice a son of darkness as you are yourselves. (Geenna g1067)
Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You scour land and sea to make a single convert, and, when they are gained, you make them twice as deserving of Gehenna as you are yourselves. (Geenna g1067)
16 What a disaster is coming on those of you who say, ‘If you swear by the Temple that doesn't count, but if you swear by the gold of the Temple, then you have to keep your oath.’ How foolish and blind you are!
Alas for you, you blind guides! You say “if any swear by the Temple, their oath counts for nothing; but, if anyone swears by the gold of the Temple, their oath is binding them”!
17 What is greater—the gold, or the Temple that makes the gold holy?
Fools that you are and blind! Which is the more important? The gold? Or the Temple which has given sacredness to the gold?
18 You say, ‘If you swear on the altar that doesn't count, but if you swear on the sacrifice that's on the altar, then you have to keep your oath.’
You say, too, “If anyone swears by the altar, their oath counts for nothing, but, if anyone swears by the offering placed on it, their oath is binding on them”!
19 How blind you are! What is greater—the sacrifice, or the altar that makes the sacrifice holy?
Blind indeed! Which is the more important? The offering? Or the altar which gives sacredness to the offering?
20 If you swear by the altar, you swear by it and by everything that's on it.
Therefore a person, swearing by the altar, swears by it and by all that is on it,
21 If you swear by the Temple you swear by it and by the one who lives there.
and a person, swearing by the Temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it,
22 If you swear by heaven you swear by the throne of God and the one who sits there.
while a person, swearing by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.
23 What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay a tithe of mint, aniseed, and cumin, but you neglect the vital aspects of the law—doing good, showing mercy, exercising trust. Yes, you should pay your tithe, but don't forget these other things.
Alas for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You pay tithes on mint, fennel, and caraway seed, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, and good faith. These last you ought to have put into practice, without neglecting the first.
24 You blind guides—you strain what you drink to keep out a fly but then you swallow a camel!
You blind guides, to strain out a gnat and to swallow a camel!
25 What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you're full of greed and self-indulgence.
Alas for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are filled with the results of greed and self-indulgence.
26 You blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, so that the outside will also be clean.
You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.
27 What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like white-washed tombs, looking good on the outside, but on the inside full of skeletons and all kinds of rottenness.
Alas for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed look fair outside, while inside they are filled with dead people’s bones and all kinds of filth.
28 You're just the same. On the outside you look like good people to others, but on the inside you're full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
It is the same with you. Outwardly, and to others, you have the look of religious people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and sin.
29 What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs as memorials to the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the good,
Alas for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the monuments of religious people,
30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the times of our ancestors we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
and say “Had we been living in the days of our ancestors, we should have taken no part in their murder of the prophets!”
31 But by saying this you testify against yourselves, proving that you belong to those who murdered the prophets!
By doing this you are furnishing evidence against yourselves that you are true children of the people who murdered the prophets.
32 So get on with it—finish it all off using your forefathers' methods!
Go on then, finish what your ancestors began!
33 You snakes, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of condemnation? (Geenna g1067)
You snakes and children of snakes! How can you escape being sentenced to Gehenna? (Geenna g1067)
34 That's why I'm sending you prophets, wise men, and teachers. Some of them you will kill, some of them you will crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, hunting them from town to town.
That is why I send you prophets, wise people, and teachers of the Law, some of whom you will crucify and kill, and some of whom you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from town to town;
35 As a result, you will be held accountable for the blood of all the good people that has been poured out on the land—from the blood of Abel, who did what was right, to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the Temple and the altar.
so that on your heads may fall every drop of innocent blood split on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel down to that of Zechariah, Barachiah’s son, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar.
36 I'm telling you, the consequences of all this will fall on this generation.
All this, I tell you, will come home to the present generation.
37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! So often I wanted to gather your children as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings—but you wouldn't let me.
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! She who slays the prophets and stones the messengers sent to her – Oh, how often have I wished to gather your children round me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not come!
38 Now look—your house is left abandoned, totally empty.
Verily, your house is left to you desolate!
39 I tell you this: you won't see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
For nevermore, I tell you, will you see me, until you say – “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”’
