Matthew 23:25-36
New American Standard Bible
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For (A)you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full [a]of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first (B)clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the [b]outside of it may also become clean.
27 “(C)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 “(D)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 (E)are [c]sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 [d]Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You snakes, (F)you [e]offspring of vipers, how [f]will you escape the [g]sentence of [h](G)hell?
34 “(H)Therefore, behold, (I)I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will (J)flog in your synagogues, and (K)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 (L)Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the (M)son of Berechiah, whom (N)you murdered between the [i]temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon (O)this generation.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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 23:25-36
New English Translation
25 “Woe to you, experts in the law[a] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,[b] so that the outside may become clean too!
27 “Woe to you, experts in the law[c] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs[d] that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, experts in the law[e] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You[f] build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves[g] of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,[h] we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?[i]
34 “For this reason I[j] am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law,[k] some of whom you will kill and crucify,[l] and some you will flog[m] in your synagogues[n] and pursue from town to town, 35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah,[o] whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth,[p] this generation will be held responsible for all these things![q]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 23:25 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
- Matthew 23:26 tc A very difficult textual problem is found here. The most significant Alexandrian and Byzantine, as well as key Western, witnesses (א B C L W Γ Δ 0102 0281 ƒ13 33 565 579 1241 1424 M lat co; SBL) have “and the dish” (καὶ τῆς παροψίδος, kai tēs paropsidos) after “cup,” while a few major witnesses (D Θ ƒ1 700 and some versional and patristic authorities) omit the phrase. On the one hand, scribes sometimes tended to eliminate redundancy; since “and the dish” is already present in v. 25, it may have been deleted in v. 26 by well-meaning copyists. On the other hand, as Metzger notes, the singular pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou, “its”) with τὸ ἐκτός (to ektos, “the outside”) in some of the same witnesses that have the longer reading (viz., B* ƒ13 al) hints that their archetype lacked the words (TCGNT 50). Further, scribes would be motivated both to add the phrase from v. 25 and to change αὐτοῦ to the plural pronoun αὐτῶν (autōn, “their”). Although the external evidence for the shorter reading is not compelling in itself, combined with these two prongs of internal evidence, it is to be slightly preferred.
- Matthew 23:27 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
- Matthew 23:27 sn This was an idiom for hypocrisy—just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (for discussion of a similar metaphor, see L&N 88.234; BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). See Ezek 13:10-16; Acts 23:3.
- Matthew 23:29 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
- Matthew 23:29 tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (hoti) has not been translated.
- Matthew 23:29 tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).
- Matthew 23:30 tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).
- Matthew 23:33 tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.
- Matthew 23:34 tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
- Matthew 23:34 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
- Matthew 23:34 sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.
- Matthew 23:34 tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”
- Matthew 23:34 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
- Matthew 23:35 sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Barachiou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).
- Matthew 23:36 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
- Matthew 23:36 tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”
Matthew 23:25-36
King James Version
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Read full chapterNew American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.