Matthew 23
New American Standard Bible
Hypocrisy Exposed
23 (A)Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “(B)The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. 3 Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and [a]comply with it all, but do not do [b]as they do; for they say things and do not do them. 4 And (C)they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger. 5 And they do all their deeds (D)to be noticed by other people; for they (E)broaden their [c]phylacteries and lengthen (F)the tassels of their garments. 6 And they (G)love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues, 7 and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called [d](H)Rabbi by the people. 8 But as for you, (I)do not be called [e](J)Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. 9 And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only (K)One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called [f]leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11 (L)But the greatest of you shall be your servant. 12 (M)Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
Eight Woes
13 “(N)But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, (O)because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.[g]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one [h](P)proselyte; and when he becomes one, you [i]make him twice as much a son of [j](Q)hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, (R)blind guides, who say, ‘(S)Whoever swears by the [k]temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the [l]temple is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! (T)Which is [m]more important, the gold or the [n]temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the [o]offering that is on it is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, (U)which is [p]more important, the [q]offering or the altar that sanctifies the [r]offering? 20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by [s]the altar and by everything on it. 21 And the one who swears by the [t]temple, swears both by [u]the temple and by Him who (V)dwells in it. 22 And the one who swears by [v]heaven, (W)swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23 “(X)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and [w]cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You (Y)blind guides, who [x]strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For (Z)you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full [y]of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first (AA)clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the [z]outside of it may also become clean.
27 “(AB)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “(AC)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you (AD)are [aa]sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 [ab]Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You snakes, (AE)you [ac]offspring of vipers, how [ad]will you escape the [ae]sentence of [af](AF)hell?
34 “(AG)Therefore, behold, (AH)I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will (AI)flog in your synagogues, and (AJ)persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous (AK)Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the (AL)son of Berechiah, whom (AM)you murdered between the [ag]temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon (AN)this generation.
Grieving over Jerusalem
37 “(AO)Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who (AP)kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, (AQ)the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 Behold, (AR)your house is being left to you desolate! 39 For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘(AS)Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Footnotes
- Matthew 23:3 Lit keep all
- Matthew 23:3 Lit according to their deeds
- Matthew 23:5 I.e., small pouches containing Scripture texts, worn on the left forearm and forehead for religious purposes
- Matthew 23:7 In Heb “My Teacher” or “My Master”
- Matthew 23:8 In Heb “My Teacher” or “My Master”
- Matthew 23:10 Or teachers
- Matthew 23:13 Late mss add (traditionally v 14): Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses even while for appearances’ sake you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation (as v 14); cf. Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47
- Matthew 23:15 Or convert
- Matthew 23:15 I.e., doom him to hell
- Matthew 23:15 Gr Gehenna
- Matthew 23:16 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:16 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:17 Lit greater
- Matthew 23:17 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:18 Or gift
- Matthew 23:19 Lit greater
- Matthew 23:19 Or gift
- Matthew 23:19 Or gift
- Matthew 23:20 Lit it
- Matthew 23:21 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:21 Lit it
- Matthew 23:22 I.e., an indirect reference to God
- Matthew 23:23 Similar to caraway seeds
- Matthew 23:24 Or filter out
- Matthew 23:25 Or as a result of
- Matthew 23:26 If the inside was ritually unclean, the entire vessel was unclean whether the outside was cleaned or not (cf. Num 19:15)
- Matthew 23:31 Or descendants
- Matthew 23:32 I.e., finish what they started
- Matthew 23:33 Or brood
- Matthew 23:33 Lit are you to escape
- Matthew 23:33 Or judgment
- Matthew 23:33 Gr Gehenna
- Matthew 23:35 Or sanctuary
Matthew 23
Common English Bible
Ways of the legal experts and the Pharisees
23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples, 2 “The legal experts and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore, you must take care to do everything they say. But don’t do what they do. 4 For they tie together heavy packs that are impossible to carry. They put them on the shoulders of others, but are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5 Everything they do, they do to be noticed by others. They make extra-wide prayer bands for their arms and long tassels for their clothes. 6 They love to sit in places of honor at banquets and in the synagogues. 7 They love to be greeted with honor in the markets and to be addressed as ‘Rabbi.’
8 “But you shouldn’t be called Rabbi, because you have one teacher, and all of you are brothers and sisters. 9 Don’t call anybody on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is heavenly. 10 Don’t be called teacher, because Christ is your one teacher. 11 But the one who is greatest among you will be your servant. 12 All who lift themselves up will be brought low. But all who make themselves low will be lifted up.
Condemnation of the legal experts and the Pharisees
13 “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You shut people out of the kingdom of heaven. You don’t enter yourselves, and you won’t allow those who want to enter to do so.[a]
15 “How terrible it will be for you, legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You travel over sea and land to make one convert. But when they’ve been converted, they become twice the child of hell you are.
16 “How terrible it will be for you blind guides who say, ‘If people swear by the temple, it’s nothing. But if people swear by the gold in the temple, they are obligated to do what they swore.’ 17 You foolish and blind people! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy? 18 You say, ‘If people swear by the altar, it’s nothing. But if they swear by the gift on the altar, they are obligated to do what they swore.’ 19 You blind people! Which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 Therefore, those who swear by the altar swear by it and by everything that’s on it. 21 Those who swear by the temple swear by it and by everything that’s part of it. 22 Those who swear by heaven swear by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
23 “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You give to God a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, but you forget about the more important matters of the Law: justice, peace, and faith. You ought to give a tenth but without forgetting about those more important matters. 24 You blind guides! You filter out an ant but swallow a camel.
25 “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and plate, but inside they are full of violence and pleasure seeking. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup so that the outside of the cup will be clean too.
27 “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs. They look beautiful on the outside. But inside they are full of dead bones and all kinds of filth. 28 In the same way you look righteous to people. But inside you are full of pretense and rebellion.
29 “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 You say, ‘If we had lived in our ancestors’ days, we wouldn’t have joined them in killing the prophets.’ 31 You testify against yourselves that you are children of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, complete what your ancestors did. 33 You snakes! You children of snakes! How will you be able to escape the judgment of hell? 34 Therefore, look, I’m sending you prophets, wise people, and legal experts. Some of them you will kill and crucify. And some you will beat in your synagogues and chase from city to city. 35 Therefore, upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been poured out on the earth, from the blood of that righteous man Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. 36 I assure you that all these things will come upon this generation.
Crying over Jerusalem
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You who kill the prophets and stone those who were sent to you. How often I wanted to gather your people together, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you didn’t want that. 38 Look, your house is left to you deserted. 39 I tell you, you won’t see me until you say, Blessings on the one who comes in the Lord’s name.”[b]
Footnotes
- Matthew 23:13 Most critical editions of the Gk New Testament omit 23:14 How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You eat up widows’ houses and make a show of praying long prayers. Therefore, you will receive greater judgment.
- Matthew 23:39 Ps 118:26
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