Matthew 23:13-36
New American Standard Bible
Eight Woes
13 “(A)But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, (B)because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.[a]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one [b](C)proselyte; and when he becomes one, you [c]make him twice as much a son of [d](D)hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, (E)blind guides, who say, ‘(F)Whoever swears by the [e]temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the [f]temple is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! (G)Which is [g]more important, the gold or the [h]temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the [i]offering that is on it is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, (H)which is [j]more important, the [k]offering or the altar that sanctifies the [l]offering? 20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by [m]the altar and by everything on it. 21 And the one who swears by the [n]temple, swears both by [o]the temple and by Him who (I)dwells in it. 22 And the one who swears by [p]heaven, (J)swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23 “(K)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and [q]cumin, 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 (L)blind guides, who [r]strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For (M)you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full [s]of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first (N)clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the [t]outside of it may also become clean.
27 “(O)Woe 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 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “(P)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you 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 testify against yourselves, that you (Q)are [u]sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 [v]Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You snakes, (R)you [w]offspring of vipers, how [x]will you escape the [y]sentence of [z](S)hell?
34 “(T)Therefore, behold, (U)I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will (V)flog in your synagogues, and (W)persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous (X)Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the (Y)son of Berechiah, whom (Z)you murdered between the [aa]temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon (AA)this generation.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 23:13 Late mss add (traditionally v 14): Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses even while for appearances’ sake you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation (as v 14); cf. Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47
- Matthew 23:15 Or convert
- Matthew 23:15 I.e., doom him to hell
- Matthew 23:15 Gr Gehenna
- Matthew 23:16 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:16 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:17 Lit greater
- Matthew 23:17 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:18 Or gift
- Matthew 23:19 Lit greater
- Matthew 23:19 Or gift
- Matthew 23:19 Or gift
- Matthew 23:20 Lit it
- Matthew 23:21 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:21 Lit it
- Matthew 23:22 I.e., an indirect reference to God
- Matthew 23:23 Similar to caraway seeds
- Matthew 23:24 Or filter out
- Matthew 23:25 Or as a result of
- Matthew 23:26 If the inside was ritually unclean, the entire vessel was unclean whether the outside was cleaned or not (cf. Num 19:15)
- Matthew 23:31 Or descendants
- Matthew 23:32 I.e., finish what they started
- Matthew 23:33 Or brood
- Matthew 23:33 Lit are you to escape
- Matthew 23:33 Or judgment
- Matthew 23:33 Gr Gehenna
- Matthew 23:35 Or sanctuary
Matthew 23:13-36
The Message
Frauds!
13 “I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won’t let anyone else in either.
15 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.
16-22 “You’re hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that’s nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that’s serious.’ What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that’s nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that’s serious’? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.
23-24 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?
25-26 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You buff the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.
27-28 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You’re like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it’s all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you’re saints, but beneath the skin you’re total frauds.
29-32 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You’re cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count.
33-34 “Snakes! Cold-blooded sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It’s on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.
35-36 “You can’t squirm out of this: Every drop of righteous blood ever spilled on this earth, beginning with the blood of that good man Abel right down to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah’s son, whom you murdered at his prayers, is on your head. All this, I’m telling you, is coming down on you, on your generation.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson