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
New King James Version
Woe to the Pharisees and Lawyers
37 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. 38 (A)When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.
39 (B)Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but (C)your inward part is full of [a]greed and wickedness. 40 Foolish ones! Did not (D)He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 (E)But rather give alms of [b]such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.
42 (F)“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and (G)pass by justice and the (H)love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 43 (I)Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the [c]best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 (J)Woe to you, [d]scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (K)For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”
45 Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.”
46 And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! (L)For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 (M)Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore the wisdom of God also said, (N)‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 (O)from the blood of Abel to (P)the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
52 (Q)“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”
53 [e]And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things,
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Luke 11:39 Lit. eager grasping or robbery
- Luke 11:41 Or what is inside
- Luke 11:43 Or places of honor
- Luke 11:44 NU omits scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites
- Luke 11:53 NU And when He left there
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
