¹⁷ “Do not presume that I came to abolish the ^(A)Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, ^(B)until heaven and earth pass away, not ^[a]the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! ¹⁹ Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches ^[b]others to do the same, shall be called least ^(C)in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever ^[c]keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

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.

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests and the entire ^[a](A)Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death. ⁶⁰ They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on ^(B)two came forward, ⁶¹ and said, “This man stated, ‘^(C)I am able to destroy the ^[b]temple of God and to rebuild it ^[c]in three days.’”

⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the entire ^[a](A)Council were trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. ⁵⁶ For many people were giving false testimony against Him, and so their testimonies were not consistent. ⁵⁷ And then some stood up and began giving false testimony against Him, saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard Him say, ‘^(B)I will destroy this ^[b]temple that was made by hands, and in three days I will build another, made without hands.’” ⁵⁹ And not even in this respect was their testimony consistent.

⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is ^(A)Moses, in whom you have put your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for ^(B)he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷ But ^(C)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”