Bible Time

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_P 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 broad, enlarge the fringes 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_P be called 'Rabbi,' for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you_P are brothers. ⁹Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven. ¹⁰Neither be_P 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_P devour widows' houses, and as a pretense you_P make long prayers. Therefore you_P will receive greater condemnation.

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

¹⁶'Woe to you, you_P 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_P 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_P 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 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_P tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you_P ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. ²⁴You_P blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!

²⁵'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you_P clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. ²⁶You 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_P are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. ²⁸Even so you_P also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you_P are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

²⁹'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you_P 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_P testify to yourselves that you_P are children of those who killed the prophets. ³²Fill_P up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³You_P serpents, you_P offspring of vipers, how will you_P escape the judgment of Gehenna? ³⁴Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you_P will kill and crucify; and some of them you_P 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_P killed between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶Most assuredly 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 would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you_P would not! ³⁸Behold, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹For I tell you, you_P will not see me from now on, until you_P say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!''