[1] Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, [2] saying,
"The scribes and the Pharisees sat 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 all their works they do to be
seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of
their garments, [6] and love the chief place at feasts, the chief seats in
the synagogues, [7] the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called
`Rabbi, Rabbi` by men. [8] But don`t you 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 will exalt
himself will be humbled, and whoever will humble 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 of 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 a debtor.`
[17] You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that
sanctifies the gold? [18] `Whoever will swear by the altar, it is nothing;
but whoever will swear by the gift that is on it, he is a debtor.` [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 is living in it. [22] He who swears by the 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 the outside of it 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 been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with
them in the blood of the prophets.` [31] Therefore you testify to
yourselves that you are sons 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 will
you kill and crucify; and some of them will you 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 Abel the righteous to
the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the
sanctuary and the altar. [36] Most assuredly I tell you, all these things
will come on this generation. [37] "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the
prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often would I have
gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens 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
will say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.`"
