Matthew 23:13-28

Complete Jewish Bible

¹³ “But woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! For you are shutting the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces, neither entering yourselves nor allowing those who wish to enter to do so. ^14 [a]

¹⁵ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You go about over land and sea to make one proselyte; and when you succeed, you make him twice as fit for Gei-Hinnom as you are!

¹⁶ “Woe to you, you blind guides! You say, ‘If someone swears by the Temple, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! Which is more important? the gold? or the Temple which makes the gold holy? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If someone swears by the altar, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the offering on the altar, he is bound.’ ¹⁹ Blind men! Which is more important? the sacrifice? or the altar which makes the sacrifice holy? ²⁰ So someone who swears by the altar swears by it and everything on it. ²¹ And someone who swears by the Temple swears by it and the One who lives in it. ²² And someone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and the One who sits on it.

²³ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You pay your tithes of mint, dill and cumin; but you have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah — justice, mercy, trust. These are the things you should have attended to — without neglecting the others! ²⁴ Blind guides! — straining out a gnat, meanwhile swallowing a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Parush! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may be clean too.

²⁷ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of rottenness. ²⁸ Likewise, you appear to people from the outside to be good and honest, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and far from Torah.