Luke 11:37-12:7
New American Standard Bible
Woes upon the Pharisees
37 Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw this, he was surprised that Jesus had not first [a](A)ceremonially washed before the [b]meal. 39 But (B)the Lord said to him, “Now (C)you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish; but your inside is full of greed and wickedness. 40 (D)You foolish ones, did He who made the outside not make the inside also? 41 But (E)give that which is within as a charitable gift, and [c]then all things are (F)clean for you.
42 “(G)But woe to you Pharisees! For you (H)pay tithes of mint, rue, and every kind of garden herb, and yet you [d]ignore justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you (I)love the seat of honor in the synagogues and personal greetings in the marketplaces. 44 (J)Woe to you! For you are like [e]unseen tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”
45 One of the [f](K)lawyers *said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.” 46 But He said, “Woe to you (L)lawyers as well! For (M)you load people with burdens that are hard to bear, [g]while you yourselves will not even [h]touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 (N)Woe to you! For you build the [i]tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. 48 So you are witnesses and you approve of the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their [j]tombs. 49 For this reason also, (O)the wisdom of God said, ‘(P)I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will [k]persecute, 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed (Q)since the foundation of the world, may be charged [l]against this generation, 51 from (R)the blood of Abel to (S)the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged [m]against this generation.’ 52 Woe to you [n](T)lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; (U)you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”
53 When He left that place, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to interrogate Him about many subjects, 54 (V)plotting against Him (W)to catch [o]Him in something He might say.
God Knows and Cares
12 Under these circumstances, after [p]so many thousands of [q]people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “(X)Beware of the [r]leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 (Y)But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 3 Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have [s]whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on (Z)the housetops.
4 “Now I say to you, (AA)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: (AB)fear the One who, after He has killed someone, has the power to throw that person into [t](AC)hell; yes, I tell you, fear [u]Him! 6 Are (AD)five sparrows not sold for two [v]assaria? And yet not one of them has gone unnoticed in the sight of God. 7 (AE)But even the hairs of your head are all counted. [w]Do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.
Footnotes
- Luke 11:38 Lit baptized; here, immersed the hands
- Luke 11:38 Or lunch
- Luke 11:41 Lit behold
- Luke 11:42 Or neglect
- Luke 11:44 I.e., unmarked
- Luke 11:45 I.e., experts in the Mosaic Law
- Luke 11:46 Lit and
- Luke 11:46 I.e., to assist them
- Luke 11:47 Or monuments to
- Luke 11:48 Or monuments
- Luke 11:49 Or drive out
- Luke 11:50 Or to
- Luke 11:51 Or to
- Luke 11:52 I.e., experts in the Mosaic Law
- Luke 11:54 Lit something out of His mouth
- Luke 12:1 Lit myriads
- Luke 12:1 Lit the crowd
- Luke 12:1 I.e., fermented dough
- Luke 12:3 Lit spoken to the ear
- Luke 12:5 Gr Gehenna
- Luke 12:5 Lit this one
- Luke 12:6 A Roman copper coin (singular assarion), about 1/16 of a laborer’s daily wage
- Luke 12:7 Or Stop being afraid
Luke 11:37-12:7
New Living Translation
Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders
37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table.[a] 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.
42 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,[b] but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
45 “Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.”
46 “Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. 47 What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. 48 But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments! 49 This is what God in his wisdom said about you:[c] ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’
50 “As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world— 51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.
52 “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”
53 As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions. 54 They wanted to trap him into saying something they could use against him.
A Warning against Hypocrisy
12 Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. 2 The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!
4 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell.[d] Yes, he’s the one to fear.
6 “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins[e]? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
