Matthew 23
23
Religious Hypocrites Denounced
1Then#Mk 12:38–39; Lk 20:45–46 Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples:#Mt 10:42; 28:19; Lk 14:26; Jn 8:31; 13:35; 15:8; Ac 6:1 2“The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses.#Ezr 7:6,25; Neh 8:4 3Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach.#Mt 5:20; 15:3–9; Rm 2:17–23 4They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry#23:4 Other mss omit that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them.#Lk 11:46; Ac 15:10; Gl 6:13 5They do everything#23:5 Lit do all their works to be seen by others: They enlarge their phylacteries#Ex 13:9; Dt 6:8; 11:18; Mt 6:1,5,16 and lengthen their tassels.#23:5 Other mss add on their robes#Mt 9:20; 14:36; Mk 6:56; Lk 8:44 6They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues,#Lk 11:43; 14:7; 20:46 7greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ because you have one Teacher, # 23:8 Other mss add the Christ and you are all brothers and sisters.#Mk 9:5; 10:51; Jn 1:38,49; 11:8; Jms 3:1 9Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven.#Mal 1:6; Mt 6:9; 7:11 10You are not to be called instructors either, because you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11The greatest among you will be your servant.#Mt 20:26–27; Mk 9:35; 3Jn 9 12Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.#Pr 29:23; Ezk 21:26; Lk 14:11; 18:14; Jms 4:6,10; 1Pt 5:5–6
13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in. # 23:13 Some mss include v. 14: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show. This is why you will receive a harsher punishment. #
Mt 23:15,23,25; Lk 11:52
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, #
Ac 2:11; 6:5; 13:43 and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are!
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, #
Mt 15:14; 23:24; Ac 1:16; Rm 2:19 who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the temple, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath#Lv 19:12; Nm 30:2; Dt 23:21; Mt 5:33; 14:7; 26:63,72 by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.’#23:16 Lit is obligated, also in v. 18 17Blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18Also, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it means nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’ 19Blind people!#23:19 Other mss read Fools and blind For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?#Ex 29:37; 30:29 20Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it. 21The one who takes an oath by the temple takes an oath by it and by him who dwells#1Kg 8:13; 2Ch 6:2; Ps 26:8; 132:14 in it. 22And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne#Ex 17:16; Ps 11:4; Mt 5:34; Heb 8:1 and by him who sits on it.#Ps 47:8; Mt 19:28; Rv 4:2
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of # 23:23 Or You tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice,#1Sm 15:22; Ps 33:5; Jr 5:1; Mc 6:8; Zch 7:9; Lk 11:42 mercy, and faithfulness.#23:23 Or faith These things should have been done without neglecting the others. 24Blind guides!#Mt 15:14; 23:16 You strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed # 23:25 Or full of violence and self-indulgence.#Mk 7:4; Lk 11:39 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,#23:26 Other mss add and dish so that the outside of it#23:26 Other mss read of them may also become clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, #
Lk 11:44; Ac 23:3 which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. 28In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, 30and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ 31So you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors’ sins!#Gn 15:16; Ac 7:51; 1Th 2:15–16
33 “Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell? # 23:33 Lit escape from the judgment of gehenna #
Mt 3:7; 5:22; 12:34 34This is why I am sending you prophets,#Ac 13:1; 1Co 12:28 sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues#2Ch 36:15–16; Mt 10:17; Ac 22:19 and pursue from town to town. 35So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you,#23:35 Lit will come on you from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah,#2Ch 24:21; Zch 1:1 son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.#Gn 4:8; Heb 11:4; 1Jn 3:12; Rv 18:24 36Truly I tell you, all these things will come on this generation.#Mt 10:23; 16:28; 24:34
Jesus’s Lamenting over Jerusalem
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, #
Lk 13:34–35
who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks#23:37 Or as a mother bird gathers her young under her wings, but you were not willing!#Dt 32:11–12; Ru 2:12; Mt 5:12 38See, your house is left to you desolate.#1Kg 9:7; Is 64:11; Jr 12:7; 22:5 39For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’!” #23:39Ps 118:26#Ps 118:26; Mt 21:9
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Matthew 23: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
S. Matthew 23
23
1Then spake Jesus to the multitudes and to his disciples, 2saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat: 3all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not. 4Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. 5But all their works they do for to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi. 8But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. 9And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ. 11But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.
13But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter.#23.13 Some authorities insert here, or after ver. 12, ver. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, even while for a pretence ye make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive greater condemnation. See Mark 12.40. Luke 20.47 15Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. 16Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. 17Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that hath sanctified the gold? 18And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor. 19Ye blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, judgement, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. 24Ye blind guides, which strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel. 25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess. 26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also. 27Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous, 30and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets. 32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgement of hell?
34Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: 35that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. 36Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
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historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society