Matthew 23
23
Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees
1Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2saying: #Deut. 33:3; Ezra 7:6, 25; Neh. 8:4, 8; (Mal. 2:7); Mark 12:38; Luke 20:45“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for #(Rom. 2:19)they say, and do not do. 4#(Matt. 11:29, 30); Luke 11:46; Acts 15:10; Rom. 2:17–24; (Gal. 5:1; 6:13; Col. 2:16, 17)For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5But all their works they do to #(Matt. 6:1–6, 16–18)be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6#Mark 12:38, 39; Luke 11:43; 20:46; 3 John 9They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ 8#(2 Cor. 1:24; James 3:1; 1 Pet. 5:3)But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9Do not call anyone on earth your father; #(Mal. 1:6); Matt. 5:16, 48; 6:1, 9, 14, 26, 32; 7:11for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11But #Matt. 20:26, 27he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12#Job 22:29; Prov. 15:33; 29:23; Luke 14:11; 18:14; James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13“But #Luke 11:52woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! #Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47; (2 Tim. 3:6; Titus 1:10, 11)For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
15“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16“Woe to you, #Matt. 15:14; 23:24blind guides, who say, #(Matt. 5:33, 34)‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ 17Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold #Ex. 30:29or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ 19Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift #Ex. 29:37or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. 21He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by #1 Kin. 8:13; 2 Chr. 6:2; Ps. 26:8; 132:14Him who dwells in it. 22And he who swears by heaven, swears by #Ps. 11:4; Is. 66:1; Matt. 5:34; Acts 7:49the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! #Matt. 23:13; Luke 11:42; 18:12For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and #(1 Sam. 15:22; Hos. 6:6; Mic. 6:8); Matt. 9:13; 12:7have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! #Mark 7:4; Luke 11:39For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! #Luke 11:44; Acts 23:3For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29#Luke 11:47, 48“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
31“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that #Matt. 23:34, 37; (Acts 7:51, 52); 1 Thess. 2:15you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32#Gen. 15:16; (1 Thess. 2:16)Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. 33Serpents, #Matt. 3:7; 12:34; Luke 3:7brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34#Matt. 21:34, 35; Luke 11:49Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: #John 16:2; Acts 7:54–60; 22:19some of them you will kill and crucify, and #Matt. 10:17; Acts 5:40; 2 Cor. 11:24, 25some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35#Rev. 18:24that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, #Gen. 4:8; Heb. 11:4; 1 John 3:12from the blood of righteous Abel to #2 Chr. 24:20, 21the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Jesus Laments over Jerusalem
37#Luke 13:34, 35“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets #2 Chr. 24:20, 21; 36:15, 16; Neh. 9:26; Matt. 21:35, 36and stones those who are sent to her! How often #Deut. 32:11, 12; Matt. 11:28–30I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks #Ps. 17:8; 91:4; Is. 49:5under her wings, but you were not willing! 38See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, #Ps. 118:26; Matt. 21:9‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
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Matthew 23: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Matthew 23
23
Jesus condemns the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses
(Mark 12.38-40; Luke 11.37-52; 20.45-47)
1Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
2The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are experts in the Law of Moses. 3So obey everything they teach you, but don't do as they do. After all, they say one thing and do something else.
4They pile heavy burdens on people's shoulders and won't lift a finger to help. 5Everything they do is just to show off in front of others. They even make a big show of wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms, and they wear big tassels#23.5 wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms…tassels: As a sign of their love for the Lord and his teachings, the Jewish people had started wearing Scripture verses in small leather boxes. But the Pharisees tried to show off by making the boxes bigger than necessary. The Jewish people were also taught to wear tassels on the four corners of their robes to show their love for God. for everyone to see.#Mt 6.1; Dt 6.8; Nu 15.38. 6They love the best seats at banquets and the front seats in the meeting places. 7And when they are in the market, they like to have people greet them as their teachers.
8But none of you should be called a teacher. You have only one teacher, and all of you are like brothers and sisters. 9Don't call anyone on earth your father. All of you have the same Father in heaven. 10None of you should be called the leader. The Messiah is your only leader. 11Whoever is the greatest should be the servant of the others.#Mt 20.26,27; Mk 9.35; 10.43,44; Lk 22.26. 12If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honoured.#Lk 14.11; 18.14.
13-14You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You're nothing but show-offs. You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You won't go in yourselves, and you keep others from going in.#23.13,14 from going in: Some manuscripts add, “You Pharisees and teachers are in for trouble! And you're nothing but show-offs! You cheat widows out of their homes and then pray long prayers just to show off. So you will be punished most of all.”
15You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You're nothing but show-offs. You travel over land and sea to win one follower. And when you have done so, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are.
16You are in for trouble! You are supposed to lead others, but you are blind. You teach that it doesn't matter if a person swears by the temple. But you say that it does matter if someone swears by the gold in the temple. 17You blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
18You also teach that it doesn't matter if a person swears by the altar. But you say that it does matter if someone swears by the gift on the altar. 19Are you blind? Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Anyone who swears by the altar also swears by everything on it. 21And anyone who swears by the temple also swears by God, who lives there. 22To swear by heaven is the same as swearing by God's throne and by the one who sits on that throne.#Is 66.1; Mt 5.34.
Jesus continued:
23You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you're in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your garden, such as mint, dill, and cumin. Yet you neglect the more important matters of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the important things you should have done, though you should not have left the others undone either.#Lv 27.30. 24You blind leaders! You strain out a small fly but swallow a camel.
25You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you're in for trouble! You wash the outside of your cups and dishes, while inside there is nothing but greed and selfishness. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of a cup, and then the outside will also be clean.
27You Pharisees and teachers are in for trouble! You're nothing but show-offs. You're like tombs that have been whitewashed.#23.27 whitewashed: Tombs were whitewashed to keep anyone from accidentally touching them. A person who touched a dead body or a tomb was considered unclean and could not worship with the rest of the Jewish people. On the outside they are beautiful, but inside they are full of bones and filth.#Ac 23.3. 28That's what you are like. Outside you look good, but inside you are evil and only pretend to be good.
29You Pharisees and teachers are nothing but show-offs, and you're in for trouble! You build monuments for the prophets and decorate the tombs of good people. 30And you claim that you would not have taken part with your ancestors in killing the prophets. 31But you prove that you really are the relatives of the ones who killed the prophets. 32So keep on doing everything they did. 33You are nothing but snakes and the children of snakes! How can you escape going to hell?#Mt 3.7; 12.34; Lk 3.7.
34I will send prophets and wise people and experts in the Law of Moses to you. But you will kill them or nail them to a cross or beat them in your meeting places or chase them from town to town. 35That's why you will be held guilty for the murder of every good person, beginning with the good man Abel. This also includes Barachiah's son Zechariah,#23.35 Zechariah: Genesis is the first book in the Jewish Scriptures, and it tells that Abel was the first person to be murdered. The Second Book of Chronicles is the last book in the Jewish Scriptures, and the last murder that it tells about is that of Zechariah. the man you murdered between the temple and the altar.#Gn 4.8; 2 Ch 24.20,21. 36I can promise that you people living today will be punished for all these things!
Jesus loves Jerusalem
(Luke 13.34,35)
Jesus continued:
37Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed the prophets and have stoned the messengers who were sent to you. I have often wanted to gather your people, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you wouldn't let me. 38And now your temple will be deserted.#Jr 22.5. 39You won't see me again until you say,#Ps 118.26.
“Blessed is the one who comes
in the name of the Lord.”
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012