The Good News According to Matthew

Chapter 23

¹Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, ²saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses’ seat. ³All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t^a do their works; for they say, and don’t do. ⁴For 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. ⁵But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries^b broad, enlarge the fringes^c of their garments, ⁶and love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ by men. ⁸But don’t you^a be called ‘Rabbi,’ for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you^a are brothers. ⁹Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven. ¹⁰Neither be^a called masters, for one is your master, the Christ. ¹¹But he who is greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you^a devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you^a make long prayers. Therefore you^a will receive greater condemnation.

¹⁴“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you^a shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you^a don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you^a allow those who are entering in to enter.^{d 15}Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you^a travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you^a make him twice as much of a son of Gehenna^e as yourselves.

¹⁶“Woe to you, you^a blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ ¹⁷You^a blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? ¹⁸‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’ ¹⁹You^a blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? ²⁰He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it. ²¹He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who was living^f in it. ²²He 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^a tithe mint, dill, and cumin,^g and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you^a ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. ²⁴You^a blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!

²⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you^a clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.^{h 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^a are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. ²⁸Even so you^a also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you^a are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

²⁹“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you^a build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous, ³⁰and 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.’ ³¹Therefore you^a testify to yourselves that you^a are children of those who killed the prophets. ³²Fill^a up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³You^a serpents, you^a offspring of vipers, how will you^a escape the judgment of Gehennaⁱ? ³⁴Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you^a will kill and crucify; and some of them you^a will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; ³⁵that 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^a killed between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶Most 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^a would not! ³⁸Behold, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹For I tell you, you^a will not see me from now on, until you^a say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”^j

a	In the original language, this word is plural.
b	phylacteries (tefillin in Hebrew) are small leather pouches that some Jewish men wear on their forehead and arm in prayer. They are used to carry a small scroll with some Scripture in it. See Deuteronomy 6:8.
c	or, tassels
d	Some Greek manuscripts reverse the order of verses 13 and 14, and some omit verse 13, numbering verse 14 as 13.
e	or, Hell
f	NU reads “lives”
g	cumin is an aromatic seed from Cuminum cyminum, resembling caraway in flavor and appearance. It is used as a spice.
h	TR reads “self-indulgence” instead of “unrighteousness”
i	or, Hell
j	Psalm 118:26

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Last updated on December 31, 2007 at 9:08 PM