Luke 11:43-45

The Passion Translation

⁴³“You Pharisees are hopeless frauds! For you love to be honored before men with your titles of respect, seeking public recognition^[a] as you aspire to become important among others.^[b]

⁴⁴“You Pharisees, what hopeless frauds! Your true character is hidden, like an unmarked grave that hides the corruption inside, defiling all who come in contact with you.”^[c]

⁴⁵Just then a specialist in interpreting religious law blurted out, “But Teacher, don’t you realize that your words insult me and those of my profession? You’re being rude to us all!”

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Footnotes

Luke 11:43 Literally “greeted with respect in the marketplaces.”
Luke 11:43 The Aramaic text states, “You aspire to leadership of the synagogues.”
Luke 11:44 The strictly religious Jew could not touch a dead body or walk over a grave. It was common to whitewash the grave so no one would walk on it and be ceremonially defiled. Jesus taught that people who followed the example of the Pharisees would become morally unclean.