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
Matthew 23
23
1 THEN JESUS said to the multitudes and to His disciples,
2 The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses' seat [of authority].
3 So observe and practice all they tell you; but do not do what they do, for they preach, but do not practice.
4 They tie up heavy loads, hard to bear, and place them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger to help bear them.
5 They do all their works to be seen of men; for they make wide their phylacteries (small cases enclosing certain Scripture passages, worn during prayer on the left arm and forehead) and make long their fringes [worn by all male Israelites, according to the command]. [Exod. 13:9; Num. 15:38; Deut. 6:8.]
6 And they take pleasure in and [thus] love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues,
7 And to be greeted with honor in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi.
8 But you are not to be called rabbi (teacher), for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers.
9 And do not call anyone [in the church] on earth father, for you have one Father, Who is in heaven.
10 And you must not be called masters (leaders), for you have one Master (Leader), the Christ.
11 He who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 Whoever exalts himself [with haughtiness and empty pride] shall be humbled (brought low), and whoever humbles himself [whoever has a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly] shall be raised to honor.
13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces; for you neither enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are about to go in to do so.
14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you swallow up widows' houses and for a pretense to cover it up make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation and the heavier sentence.
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes one [a proselyte], you make him doubly as much a child of hell (Gehenna) as you are.
16 Woe to you, blind guides, who say, If anyone swears by the sanctuary of the temple, it is nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the sanctuary, he is a debtor [bound by his oath].
17 You blind fools! For which is greater: the gold, or the sanctuary of the temple that has made the gold sacred? [Exod. 30:29.]
18 You say too, Whoever swears by the altar is not duty bound; but whoever swears by the offering on the altar, his oath is binding.
19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar which makes the gift sacred?
20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
21 And he who swears by the sanctuary of the temple swears by it and by Him Who dwells in it. [I Kings 8:13; Ps. 26:8.]
22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by Him Who sits upon it.
23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you give a tenth of your mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected and omitted the weightier (more important) matters of the Law–right and justice and mercy and fidelity. These you ought [particularly] to have done, without neglecting the others.
24 You blind guides, filtering out a gnat and gulping down a camel! [Lev. 27:30; Mic. 6:8.]
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but within they are full of extortion (prey, spoil, plunder) and grasping self-indulgence.
26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and of the plate, so that the outside may be clean also.
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you are like tombs that have been whitewashed, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men's bones and everything impure.
28 Just so, you also outwardly seem to people to be just and upright but inside you are full of pretense and lawlessness and iniquity. [Ps. 5:9.]
29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
30 Saying, If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have aided them in shedding the blood of the prophets.
31 Thus you are testifying against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' sins to the brim [so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure].
33 You serpents! You spawn of vipers! How can you escape the penalty to be suffered in hell (Gehenna)?
34 Because of this, take notice: I am sending you prophets and wise men (interpreters and teachers) and scribes (men learned in the Mosaic Law and the Prophets); some of them you will kill, even crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue and persecute from town to town,
35 So that upon your heads may come all the blood of the righteous (those who correspond to the divine standard of right) shed on earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar [of burnt offering]. [Gen. 4:8; II Chron. 24:21.]
36 Truly I declare to you, all these [evil, calamitous times] will come upon this generation. [II Chron. 36:15, 16.]
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, murdering the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a mother fowl gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused!
38 Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate (abandoned and left destitute of God's help). [I Kings 9:7; Jer. 22:5.]
39 For I declare to you, you will not see Me again until you say, Blessed (magnified in worship, adored, and exalted) is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! [Ps. 118:26.]
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