Matthew 23
23
The Denouncing of the Scribes and Pharisees
Mk 12:38–40; Lk 11:37–52; 20:45–47
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, 2#Ezr 7:6; 7:25“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do their works. For they speak, but do nothing. 4#Lk 11:46; Ac 15:10They fasten heavy loads that are hard to carry and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with their finger.
5#Dt 6:8; Mt 9:20“They do all their works to be seen by men. They make their Scripture boxes broad and lengthen the tassels on their prayer shawls. 6They love the places of honor at feasts, and the prominent seats in the synagogues, 7#Jn 1:38; 1:49and greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ‘Rabbi’ by men.
8#Jas 3:1; Mt 23:10“But do not be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brothers. 9#Mal 1:6; Mt 7:11And call no man on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10Nor be called teachers, for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12#Lk 14:11; 18:14For he who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13#Lk 11:52; Mt 23:27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven against men. For you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who are entering to go in. 14#Mk 12:40; Lk 20:47Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and for pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive the greater condemnation.
15#Ac 13:43; 2:10“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16#Mt 15:14; 23:24“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing. But if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ 17#Mt 23:19You blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is obligated.’ 19#Ex 29:37You blind fools! Which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. 21#1Ki 8:13; Ps 26:8But he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. 22#Mt 5:34; Ps 11:4And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
23#Lk 11:42; Mic 6:8; 1Sa 15:22“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You tithe mint and dill and cumin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. 24#Mt 19:24You blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25#Mt 15:19–20; Lk 11:39–40“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and greed. 26You blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may also be clean.
27#Lk 11:44; Ac 23:3“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. 28#Mt 23:5So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29#Lk 11:47–48“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the memorials of the righteous, 30and say, ‘If we lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have partaken with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31#Ac 7:51–52Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32#Ge 15:16Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.
33#Mt 3:7; 12:34“You serpents! You generation of vipers! How can you escape the judgment of hell? 34#Mt 10:16–17; 10:23Therefore I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city, 35#Ge 4:8; Zec 1:1that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the 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#Mt 24:34; 10:23Truly I say to you, all these things will come on this generation.
The Lament Over Jerusalem
Lk 13:34–35
37#Ru 2:12; Mt 5:12“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not! 38#Jer 22:5Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39#Ps 118:26; Mt 21:9For I tell you, you shall not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’#Ps 118:26.”
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Matthew 23: MEV
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Military Bible Association
Matthew 23
23
1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, 2saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. 3All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do. 4For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them. 5But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries#23:5 phylacteries (tefillin in Hebrew) are small leather pouches that some Jewish men wear on their forehead and arm in prayer. They are used to carry a small scroll with some Scripture in it. See Deuteronomy 6:8. broad and enlarge the fringes#23:5 or, tassels of their garments, 6and love the place of honour at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’#23:7 NU omits the second “Rabbi”. by men. 8But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers. 9Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven. 10Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Christ. 11But he who is greatest amongst you will be your servant. 12Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretence you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
14 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. # 23:14 Some Greek texts reverse the order of verses 13 and 14, and some omit verse 13, numbering verse 14 as 13. NU omits verse 14. 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna#23:15 or, Hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ 17You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or 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 obligated.’ 19You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it. 21He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who has been living#23:21 NU reads “lives” in it. 22He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, # 23:23 cumin is an aromatic seed from Cuminum cyminum, resembling caraway in flavour and appearance. It is used as a spice. and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. 24You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. # 23:25 TR reads “self-indulgence” instead of “unrighteousness” 26You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. 28Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous, 30and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgement of Gehenna?#23:33 or, Hell 34Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar. 36Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! 38Behold, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”#Psalms 118:26
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