Matthew 23:13-36

International Standard Version

¹³ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom from^[a] heaven in people’s faces. You don’t go in yourselves, and you don’t allow those who are trying to enter to go in.

¹⁴ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and say long prayers to cover it up. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation!^[b]

¹⁵ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when this happens you make him twice as fit for^[c] hell^[d] as you are.

¹⁶ “How terrible it will be for you, blind guides! You say, ‘Whoever swears an oath by the sanctuary is excused,^[e] but whoever swears an oath by the gold of the sanctuary must keep his oath.’^{[f] 17} You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the sanctuary that made the gold holy? ¹⁸ Again you say,^[g] ‘Whoever swears an oath by the altar is excused,^[h] but whoever swears by the gift that is on it must keep his oath.’^{[i] 19} You blind men!^[j] Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? ²⁰ Therefore, the one who swears an oath by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ The one who swears an oath by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who lives there. ²² And the one who swears an oath by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

²³ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your mint, dill, and cummin, but have neglected the more important matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.^[k] These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides! You filter out a gnat, yet swallow a camel!

²⁵ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,^[l] so that its outside may also be clean.

²⁷ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of impurity. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous. ³⁰ Then you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our ancestors, we would have had no part with them in shedding^[m] the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ Therefore, you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Then finish what your ancestors started!^{[n] 33} You snakes, you children of serpents! How can you escape being condemned to hell?^[o]

³⁴ “That is why I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will whip in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. ³⁵ As a result, you will be held accountable for^[p] all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel^[q] to the blood of Berechiah’s son Zechariah,^[r] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶ I tell all of you^[s] with certainty, all these things will happen to those living today.”^[t]