²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth^(A) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.^(B) You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides!^(C) You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

²⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,^(D) but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.^{(E) 26} Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,^(F) which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets^(G) and decorate the graves of the righteous. ³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.^{(H) 32} Go ahead, then, and complete^(I) what your ancestors started!^(J)

³³ “You snakes! You brood of vipers!^(K) How will you escape being condemned to hell?^{(L) 34} Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;^(M) others you will flog in your synagogues^(N) and pursue from town to town.^{(O) 35} And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel^(P) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,^(Q) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.^{(R) 36} Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.^(S)

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,^(T) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,^(U) and you were not willing. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate.^{(V) 39} For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’^[a]”^(W)

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times^(X)

24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ² “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another;^(Y) every one will be thrown down.”

³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,^(Z) the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming^(AA) and of the end of the age?”^(AB)

⁴ Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.^{(AC) 5} For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.^{(AD) 6} You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.^(AE) There will be famines^(AF) and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted^(AG) and put to death,^(AH) and you will be hated by all nations because of me.^{(AI) 10} At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets^(AJ) will appear and deceive many people.^{(AK) 12} Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.^{(AL) 14} And this gospel of the kingdom^(AM) will be preached in the whole world^(AN) as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.