Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders^(A)

23 Then Jesus spoke to the people and to his followers. He said, ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the Law of Moses says. ³ So you should obey them. Do everything they tell you to do. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don’t do those things themselves. ⁴ They make strict rules that are hard for people to obey. They try to force others to obey all their rules. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.

⁵ “The only reason they do what they do is for other people to see them. They make the little Scripture boxes^[a] they wear bigger and bigger. And they make the tassels^[b] on their prayer clothes long enough for people to notice them. ⁶ These men love to have the places of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues. ⁷ They love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces and to call them ‘Teacher.’