Luke 11:37-53
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,
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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 11:37-53
International Standard Version
Jesus Denounces the Pharisees and the Experts in the Law(A)
37 After Jesus[a] had said this, a Pharisee invited him to have a meal with him. So Jesus[b] went and took his place at the table. 38 The Pharisee was surprised to see that he didn’t first wash before the meal. 39 But the Lord told him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but on the inside you are full of greed and evil. 40 You fools! The one who made the outside made the inside, too, didn’t he? 41 So give what is inside to the poor, and then everything will be clean for you.
42 “How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give a tenth of your mint, spices, and every kind of herb, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others.
43 How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You love to have the places of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplaces.
44 How terrible it will be for you! You are like unmarked graves—people walk on them without realizing it.”
45 Then one of the experts in the Law told him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us, too.”
46 Jesus[c] said, “How terrible it will be for you experts in the Law, too! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, yet you don’t even lift a finger to ease those burdens.
47 How terrible it will be for you! You build monuments for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them! 48 So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors, because they killed those for whom you are building monuments. 49 That is why the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles. They will kill some of them and persecute others,’[d] 50 so those living today[e] will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that was shed since the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel[f] to the blood of Zechariah,[g] who died between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation!
52 How terrible it will be for you experts in the Law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and you kept out those who were trying to go in.”
53 As Jesus[h] was leaving, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely, interrogating him about many things.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Luke 11:37 Lit. he
- Luke 11:37 Lit. he
- Luke 11:46 Lit. He
- Luke 11:49 The source of this quotation is unknown.
- Luke 11:50 Lit. 50 that this generation
- Luke 11:51 Cf. Gen 4:8
- Luke 11:51 Cf. 2Chr 24:20-21
- Luke 11:53 Lit. he
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