^aThen Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “^aThe scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses’ chair of authority as teachers of the Law; 3 so practice and observe everything they tell you, but do not do as they do; for they preach things, but do not practice them. 4 ^aThe scribes and Pharisees tie up ¹heavy loads that are hard to bear and place them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger to make them lighter. 5 They do all their deeds ^ato be seen by men; for they make their ¹phylacteries (tefillin) ^bwide to make them more conspicuous and make their ^2ctassels long. Ex 13:9; Num 15:38; Deut 6:8 6 They ^alove the place of distinction and honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues those on the platform near the scrolls of the Law, facing the congregation, 7 and to be greeted with respect in the market places and public forums, and to have people call them ^aRabbi. 8 But ^ado not be called ^bRabbi (Teacher) ; for One is your Teacher, and you are all equally brothers. 9 Do not call anyone on earth who guides you spiritually your father; for ^aOne is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 Do not let yourselves be called leaders or teachers; for One is your Leader (Teacher) , the Christ. 11 ^aBut the greatest among you will be your servant. 12 ^aWhoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be raised to honor.

13 “^aBut woe (judgment is coming) to you, self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, ^bbecause you shut off the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are in the process of entering to do so. Luke 11:52 14 [¹Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ^ayou swallow up widows’ houses, and to cover it up you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation.]

15 “Woe to you, self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel over sea and land to make a single ^aproselyte (convert to Judaism) , and when he becomes a convert, you make him twice as much a son of ^bhell as you are.

16 “Woe to you, ^ablind guides, who say, ‘^bWhoever swears an oath by the sanctuary of the temple, that is nothing (non-binding) ; but whoever swears an oath by the gold of the temple is obligated as a debtor to fulfill his vow and keep his promise.’ 17 You fools and blind men! ^aWhich is more important, the gold or the sanctuary of the temple that sanctified the gold? Ex 30:29 18 And you scribes and Pharisees say, ‘Whoever swears an oath by the altar, that is nothing (non-binding) , but whoever swears an oath by the offering on it, he is obligated as a debtor to fulfill his vow and keep his promise.’ 19 You spiritually blind men, ^awhich is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 Therefore, whoever swears an oath by the altar, swears both by it and by everything offered on it. 21 And whoever swears an oath by the sanctuary of the temple, swears by it and by Him who ^adwells within it. 1+@Kin 8:13; Ps 26:8 22 And whoever swears an oath by heaven, ^aswears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

23 “^aWoe to you, self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give a tenth (tithe) of your mint and dill and cumin focusing on minor matters, and have neglected the weightier more important moral and spiritual provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the primary things you ought to have done without neglecting the others. 24 You spiritually ^ablind guides, who strain out a gnat consuming yourselves with miniscule matters and swallow a camel ignoring and violating God’s precepts! Lev 11:24; 27:30; Mic 6:8

25 “Woe to you, self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^ayou clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and robbery and self-indulgence (unrestrained greed) . 26 You spiritually blind Pharisee, first ^aclean the inside of the cup and of the plate examine and change your inner self to conform to God’s precepts, so that the outside your public life and deeds may be clean also.

27 “^aWoe to you, self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28 So you, also, outwardly seem to be just and upright to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Ps 5:9

29 “^aWoe to you, self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets and decorate and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you ^aare the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the allotted measure of the guilt of your fathers’ sins. 33 You ¹serpents, ^ayou spawn of vipers, how can you escape the ^bpenalty of hell?

34 “^aTherefore, take notice, ^bI am sending you prophets and wise men interpreters, teachers and scribes men educated in the Mosaic Law and the writings of the prophets; some of them you will kill and even crucify, and some you will ^cflog in your synagogues, and pursue and ^dpersecute from city to city, 35 so that on you will come the guilt of all the blood of the righteous shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^1aAbel to the blood of Zechariah the priest, the ^bson of Berechiah, whom ^cyou murdered between the temple and the altar. Gen 4:8; 2+@Chr 24:21; Luke 11:51 36 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the judgment for all these things these vile and murderous deeds will come on ^athis generation. 2+@Chr 36:15, 16

37 “^1aO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who ^bmurders the prophets and stones to death those messengers who are sent to her by God! How often I wanted to gather your children together around Me, ^cas a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Luke 13:34, 35 38 Listen carefully: ^ayour house is being left to you desolate completely abandoned by God and destitute of His protection! 1+@Kin 9:6, 7; Jer 22:5 39 For I say to you, you will not see Me again ministering to you publicly until you say, ‘^aBLESSED to be celebrated with praise IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” Ps 118:26

^aThen Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “^aThe scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4 ^aAnd they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5 But they do all their deeds ^ato be noticed by men; for they ^bbroaden their ¹phylacteries and lengthen ^cthe tassels of their garments. 6 And they ^alove the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ^aRabbi by men. 8 But ^ado not be called ^bRabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth your father; for ^aOne is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 Do not be called instructors; for One is your Instructor, that is, Christ. 11 ^aBut the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 ^aAnd whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

13 “^aBut woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, ^bbecause you shut off the kingdom of heaven ¹from ²people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 ¹[Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ^ayou devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]

15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one ^1aproselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of ^2bhell as yourselves.

16 “Woe to you, ^ablind guides, who say, ‘^bWhoever swears by the ¹sanctuary, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the ²sanctuary is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! For ^awhich is ¹more important, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the ¹offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, ^awhich is ¹more important, the ²offering, or the altar that sanctifies the ³offering? 20 Therefore, ¹whoever swears by the altar, swears both by ²the altar and by everything on it. 21 And ¹whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears both by the ²sanctuary and by Him who ^adwells within it. 22 And ¹whoever swears by heaven, ^aswears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

23 “^aWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and ¹cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You ^ablind guides, who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^ayou clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full ¹of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first ^aclean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

27 “^aWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 In this way, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 “^aWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you bear witness against yourselves, that you ^aare ¹sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You serpents, ^ayou brood of vipers, how ¹will you escape the ²sentence of ^3bhell?

34 “^aOn account of this, behold, ^bI am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will ^cflog in your synagogues, and ^dpersecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^aAbel to the blood of Zechariah, the ^bson of Berechiah, whom ^cyou murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon ^athis generation.

37 “^aJerusalem, Jerusalem, who ^bkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ^cthe way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you did not want it. 38 Behold, ^ayour house is being left to you desolate! 39 For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘^aBLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE ¹LORD!’”