³⁹ He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?^(A)

¹⁴ Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.^[a] And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.”^(A)

¹³ But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived.^(A)

³ Whoever teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that is in accordance with godliness^{(A) 4} is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words. From these come envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions,^{(B) 5} and wrangling among those who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.^[a](C)

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’^{(A) 17} You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred?^{(B) 18} And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.’ ¹⁹ How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?^{(C) 20} So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it, ²¹ and whoever swears by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who dwells in it, ²² and whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.^(D)

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.^{(E) 24} You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and of the plate,^[a] so that the outside also may become clean.

¹⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name though I did not send them and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come on this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.^{(A) 16} And the people to whom they prophesy shall be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword. There shall be no one to bury them—themselves, their wives, their sons, and their daughters—for I will pour out their wickedness upon them.”^(B)

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to me: “Take once more the implements of a worthless shepherd.^{(A) 16} For I am now raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for the perishing, or seek the wandering,^[a] or heal the maimed, or nourish the healthy,^[b] but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.