Matthew 23
23
Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees
1Then Jesus #For ver. 1, 2, 5-7, see Mark 12:38, 39; Luke 20:45, 46; [Luke 11:43]said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2#[Ezra 7:6, 10, 25; Neh. 8:4] “The scribes and the Pharisees #[Deut. 17:10, 11; John 9:28, 29]sit on Moses’ seat, 3so do and observe whatever they tell you, #[ch. 5:20; 15:3-13] but not the works they do. #Rom. 2:17-23For they preach, but do not practice. 4#Luke 11:46; [ch. 11:28-30; Acts 15:10]They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,#23:4 Some manuscripts omit hard to bear and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5#[See ver. 1 above] They do all their deeds #ch. 6:1, 16; [John 5:44] to be seen by others. For they make #Ex. 13:9; Deut. 6:8; 11:18 their phylacteries broad and #See ch. 9:20their fringes long, 6and they #Luke 14:7, 8 love the place of honor at feasts and #Luke 11:43the best seats in the synagogues 7and #[See ver. 6 above] greetings in #ch. 11:16; 20:3 the marketplaces and being called #See John 1:38rabbi#23:7 Rabbi means my teacher, or my master; also verse 8 by others. 8#James 3:1 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are #Luke 22:32; John 21:23; See Philem. 16all brothers.#23:8 Or brothers and sisters 9#[1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4] And call no man your father on earth, for #ch. 6:9; Mal. 1:6; See ch. 7:11you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, #See ch. 1:17the Christ. 11#ch. 20:26The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12#Luke 14:11; 18:14; [ch. 18:4; Prov. 29:23; Ezek. 21:26; James 4:6, 10; 1 Pet. 5:5, 6]Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “But woe #
Luke 11:52 to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you # [ch. 16:19] shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you # [ch. 5:20; 21:31; Luke 7:30] neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. # 23:13 Some manuscripts add here (or after verse 12) verse 14: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single #Acts 2:10; 6:5; 13:43 proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a #[John 17:12; 2 Thess. 2:3] child of #See ch. 5:29hell#23:15 Greek Gehenna; also verse 33 as yourselves.
16 “Woe to # See ch. 15:14 you, # ver. 17, 19, 26; John 9:39-41; Rom. 2:19; 2 Pet. 1:9; Rev. 3:17 blind guides, who say, # [ch. 5:33-35] ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or #Ex. 30:29the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by #ch. 5:23the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or #Ex. 29:37the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by #1 Kgs. 8:13; 2 Chr. 6:2; Ps. 26:8; 132:14him who dwells in it. 22And whoever swears by #[ch. 21:25] heaven swears by #See ch. 5:34 the throne of God and by #See Rev. 4:2him who sits upon it.
23 #
Luke 11:42 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For #
Deut. 14:22; [Luke 18:12] you tithe mint and dill and #
Isa. 28:25, 27 cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: #
Ps. 33:5; Jer. 5:1; Mic. 6:8; Zech. 7:9 justice and mercy and faithfulness. # [1 Sam. 15:22] These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing #ch. 19:24a camel!
25 # For ver. 25-28, [ch. 15:11-20] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For #
Luke 11:39, 40 you clean the outside of #
Mark 7:4 the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of #
Luke 16:14; 20:47 greed and self-indulgence. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of #[See ver. 25 above]the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 #
Luke 11:44 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like # [Acts 23:3] whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and #
Eph. 5:3; [Num. 19:16; 2 Kgs. 23:16] all uncleanness. 28So you also #ver. 5 outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of #Luke 12:1hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 #
Luke 11:47, 48 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31Thus you witness against yourselves that you are #Acts 7:51, 52sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32#Gen. 15:16; Dan. 8:23; 1 Thess. 2:15, 16Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33You serpents, #ch. 3:7; 12:34 you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to #ver. 15hell? 34#For ver. 34-36, [Luke 11:49-51] Therefore #ch. 10:16 I send you #See Acts 13:1; 1 Cor. 12:28 prophets and wise men and #ch. 13:52 scribes, #See ch. 21:35 some of whom you will kill and crucify, and #See ch. 21:35 some you will #ch. 10:17; Mark 13:9; Luke 21:12; Acts 22:19; 26:11; [Luke 12:11] flog in your synagogues and #ch. 10:23persecute from town to town, 35so that on you may come all #Rev. 18:24 the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous #Gen. 4:4, 8; Heb. 11:4; 1 John 3:12 Abel to the blood of #[Zech. 1:1] Zechariah the son of Barachiah,#23:35 Some manuscripts omit the son of Barachiah whom you murdered between #See Luke 1:9 the sanctuary and #Ex. 40:6; 2 Kgs. 16:14; Ezek. 40:47the altar. 36Truly, I say to you, #[ch. 10:23; 16:28; 24:34]all these things will come upon this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem
37 # For ver. 37-39, see Luke 13:34, 35; [Luke 19:41-44] “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that # See ch. 21:35 kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have # [Ps. 147:2; Prov. 1:24] gathered #
Luke 23:28 your children together # [Deut. 32:11, 12] as a hen gathers her brood #
Ruth 2:12 under her wings, and #
John 5:40
you were not willing! 38See, #[Isa. 64:11; Jer. 12:7; 22:5]your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, #ch. 21:9; Cited from Ps. 118:26‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Matthew 23
23
1Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, 2saying, The scribes and the Pharisees have set themselves down in Moses' seat: 3all things therefore, whatever they may tell you, do and keep. But do not after their works, for they say and do not, 4but bind burdens heavy and hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of men, but will not move them with their finger. 5And all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6and love the chief place in feasts and the first seats in the synagogues, 7and salutations in the market-places, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. 8But ye, be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your instructor, and all ye are brethren. 9And call not any one your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, he who is in the heavens. 10Neither be called instructors, for one is your instructor, the Christ. 11But the greatest of you shall be your servant. 12And whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.
13But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of the heavens before men; for ye do not enter, nor do ye suffer those that are entering to go in. 14#Verse 14 of A.V. is not in the best MSS. 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye compass the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when he is become such, ye make him twofold more the son of hell than yourselves. 16Woe to you, blind guides, who say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. 17Fools and blind, for which is greater, the gold, or the temple which sanctifies the gold? 18And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it is a debtor. 19Fools and blind ones, for which is greater, the gift, or the altar which sanctifies the gift? 20He therefore that swears by the altar swears by it and by all things that are upon it. 21And he that swears by the temple swears by it and by him that dwells in it. 22And he that swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him that sits upon it. 23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and ye have left aside the weightier matters of the law, judgment and mercy and faith: these ye ought to have done and not have left those aside. 24Blind guides, who strain out the gnat, but drink down the camel. 25Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within they are full of rapine and intemperance. 26Blind Pharisee, make clean first the inside of the cup and of the dish, that their outside also may become clean. 27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28Thus also ye, outwardly ye appear righteous to men, but within are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets and adorn the tombs of the just, 30and ye say, If we had been in the days of our fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31So that ye bear witness of yourselves that ye are sons of those who slew the prophets: 32and ye, fill ye up the measure of your fathers. 33Serpents, offspring of vipers, how should ye escape the judgment of hell?
34Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye will kill and crucify, and some of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and will persecute from city to city; 35so that all righteous blood shed upon the earth should come upon you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent unto her, how often would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38Behold, your house is left unto you desolate; 39for I say unto you, Ye shall in no wise see me henceforth until ye say, Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.