1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and
to his disciples,
2 saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees
sit on Moses’ seat.
3 All things therefore whatever they tell
you to observe, observe and do, but don’t
do their works; for they say, and don’t do.
4 For 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.
5 But they do all their works to be seen by
men. They make their phylacteries† broad
and enlarge the fringes‡ of their garments,
6 and love the place of honor at feasts, the
best seats in the synagogues,
7 the salutations in the marketplaces,
and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’§ by men.
8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’, for
one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of
you are brothers.
9 Call no man on the earth your father,
for one is your Father, he who is in
heaven.
10 Neither be called masters, for one is
your master, the Christ.
11 But he who is greatest among you will
be your servant.
12 Whoever 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 pretense 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.†
15 Woe 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‡ 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.’
17 You blind fools! For which is greater,
the gold or the temple that sanctifies the
gold?
18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it
is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift
that is on it, he is obligated.’
19 You blind fools! For which is greater,
the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
20 He therefore who swears by the altar,
swears by it and by everything on it.
21 He who swears by the temple, swears
by it and by him who has been living§ in it.
22 He 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,† 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.
24 You 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.‡
26 You 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.
28 Even 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,
30 and 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.’
31 Therefore you testify to yourselves
that you are children of those who killed
the prophets.
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers,
how will you escape the judgment of
Gehenna?§
34 Therefore, 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,
35 that 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.
36 Most 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!
38 Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
39 For 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!’ ”*
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