The Gospel According to Matthew, Chapter 23
{23:1} Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,
{23:2} saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses' seat.
{23:3} 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. {23:4}
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. {23:5} But all their works they do to be seen by men. They
make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,
{23:6} and love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the
synagogues, {23:7} the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be
called 'Rabbi, Rabbi' by men. {23:8} But don't you be called 'Rabbi,'
for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers.
{23:9} Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father,
he who is in heaven. {23:10} Neither be called masters, for one is
your master, the Christ. {23:11} But he who is greatest among you will
be your servant. {23:12} Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and
whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
{23:13} [1>]"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.
{23:14} "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.[<1] {23:15} 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.
{23:16} "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.' {23:17} You blind fools! For which is
greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? {23:18}
'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the
gift that is on it, he is obligated.' {23:19} You blind fools! For
which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
{23:20} He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by
everything on it. {23:21} He who swears by the temple, swears by it,
and by him who was living in it. {23:22} He who swears by heaven,
swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.
{23:23} "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
tithe mint, dill, and [2>]cumin,[<2] 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. {23:24} You
blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!
{23:25} "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 [3>]unrighteousness.[<3] {23:26} You blind
Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that
the outside of it may become clean also.
{23:27} "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. {23:28} Even so
you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full
of hypocrisy and iniquity.
{23:29} "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the
righteous, {23:30} 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.' {23:31} Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are
children of those who killed the prophets. {23:32} Fill up, then, the
measure of your fathers. {23:33} You serpents, you offspring of
vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna? {23:34}
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; {23:35} 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. {23:36} Most assuredly I
tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
{23:37} "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who 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! {23:38} Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
{23:39} 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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Footnotes:
[1] {23:14} Some Greek manuscripts reverse the order of verses 13 and
14, and some omit verse 13, numbering verse 14 as 13.
[2] {23:23} cumin is an aromatic seed from Cuminum cyminum, resembling
caraway in flavor and appearance. It is used as a spice.
[3] {23:25} TR reads "self-indulgence" instead of "unrighteousness"
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