Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes
and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever
they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do
not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them
on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move
them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by
others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes
long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats
in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being
called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you
have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your
father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither
be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The
greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself
will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut
the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter
yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and
land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte,
you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
“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 bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is
greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And
you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if
anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his
oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar
that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears
by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple
swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by
heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe
mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters
of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to
have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides,
straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the
outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed
and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of
the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are
full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also
outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of
hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the
tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
saying, ‘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.’
Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who
murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being
sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and
scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will
flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on
you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood
of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah,
whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say
to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and
stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered
your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate.
For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
