Matthew 23
Worldwide English (New Testament)
23 Then Jesus talked to the people and to his disciples.
2 He said, `The scribes and Pharisees have taken Moses' place.
3 So obey and do everything they tell you to do. But do not do what they do. They say what should be done, but they do it not.
4 They make heavy loads and put them on people's backs. But they themselves will not put up even one finger to help carry the loads.
5 They do all their work to be seen by people. They wear bigger and bigger boxes with God's word in. And they make wider and wider borders on their gowns.
6 They want to sit in the best places at the feasts. They want to have the front seats in the meeting houses.
7 They want people to greet them in the market, and to call them "Teacher".
8 But people should not call you "Teacher". You have one Teacher. And you are all brothers.
9 `Do not call anyone on earth your "Father". You have one Father. He is in heaven.
10 People should not call you "Master". You have one Master. He is the Christ.
11 The person who is greatest among you will help the others.
12 Anyone who puts himself up will be brought down. And anyone who puts himself down will be brought up.
13 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You are not true to yourselves! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven so people cannot go in. You yourselves do not go in, and you stop those who were going in.
14 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You take away the homes of women whose husbands are dead. You cover up your wrong ways by talking big to God for a long time. Because of that, you will be punished harder.
15 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You travel over sea and land to win one person to believe what you believe. And when he believes, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.
16 `You blind leaders will have trouble. You say that if anyone makes a promise in the name of the temple, he does not have to keep that promise. But if anyone makes a promise in the name of the gold on the temple, he must keep that promise.
17 `You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy?
18 And you say that if anyone makes a promise in the name of God's altar, he does not have to keep that promise. But if anyone makes a promise in the name of the sacrifice, he must keep that promise.
19 `You fools and blind people! Which is greater, the sacrifice or the place that makes the sacrifice holy?
20 So if anyone makes a promise by God's altar, he makes his promise by it and by all that is on it.
21 If anyone makes a promise by the temple, he makes his promise by the temple and by God who lives in the temple.
22 If anyone makes a promise by heaven, he makes his promise by God's big chair called a throne and by God who sits on the throne.
23 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You give God a tenth part of small garden plants. But you have not done those bigger matters of the law. You have not judged in the right way. You have not been kind. You have not believed God. You should be doing these things and the other things too.
24 You blind leaders! You take a fly out of your cup, but you drink down a big animal like a camel!
25 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You wash the outside of a cup and a dish clean. But inside they are full of greed and wrong ways!
26 You blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish so that the outside will be clean too.
27 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You are like graves that have been painted white. Outside they look very nice. But inside they are full of dead men's bones and all kinds of dirt.
28 So it is with you. You look right on the outside. But inside you are full of lies and wrong ways.
29 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You build places to bury the prophets and fix up graves of good men.
30 You say, "If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have helped to kill the prophets of God."
31 So you prove that you are the sons of the men who killed the prophets.
32 Finish doing what your fathers started to do.
33 You snakes - a whole family of snakes! You cannot get away! You will be judged and sent to hell.
34 That is why I send you prophets, wise men, and teachers. You will kill some of them and nail them to a cross. And you will beat some of them in your meeting houses and trouble them from one town to another.
35 So you will be punished for all the blood of every good man that is on the ground. I mean all the blood from the time of Abel, who was a good man, to Zechariah, the son of Barachiah. You killed him between the temple and God's altar.
36 I tell you the truth. The people who are still living now will be punished for all these things.
37 `Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You throw stones to kill the men who are sent to you! How often I have wanted to gather your people together, as a mother hen gathers her little ones under her wings. But you would not come!
38 Now you are left alone in your house.
39 I tell you this. You will not see me again until the time when you say, "God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord." '
Matthew 23
International Standard Version
Jesus Denounces the Scribes and the Pharisees(A)
23 Then Jesus told the crowds and his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees administer the authority of Moses,[a] 3 so do whatever they tell you and follow it, but stop doing what they do, because they don’t do what they say. 4 They tie up burdens that are heavy and unbearable and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they refuse to lift a finger to remove them.
5 “They do everything to be seen by people. They increase the size of their phylacteries[b] and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 They love to have the places of honor at festivals, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 to be greeted in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’[c] by people.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’[d] because you have only one teacher, and all of you are brothers. 9 And don’t call anyone on earth ‘Father,’ because you have only one Father, the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘Teachers,’ because you have only one teacher, the Messiah![e] 11 The person who is greatest among you must be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom from[f] 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![g]
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[h] hell[i] as you are.
16 “How terrible it will be for you, blind guides! You say, ‘Whoever swears an oath by the sanctuary is excused,[j] but whoever swears an oath by the gold of the sanctuary must keep his oath.’[k] 17 You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the sanctuary that made the gold holy? 18 Again you say,[l] ‘Whoever swears an oath by the altar is excused,[m] but whoever swears by the gift that is on it must keep his oath.’[n] 19 You blind men![o] 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.[p] 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,[q] 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[r] 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![s] 33 You snakes, you children of serpents! How can you escape being condemned to hell?[t]
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[u] all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel[v] to the blood of Berechiah’s son Zechariah,[w] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 I tell all of you[x] with certainty, all these things will happen to those living today.”[y]
Jesus Rebukes Jerusalem(B)
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! 38 Look! Your house is left abandoned! 39 I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”[z]
Footnotes
- Matthew 23:2 Lit. Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat
- Matthew 23:5 I.e. leather cases containing Scripture texts
- Matthew 23:7 Rabbi is Heb. for Master and/or Teacher.
- Matthew 23:8 Rabbi is Heb. for Master and/or Teacher
- Matthew 23:10 Or Christ
- Matthew 23:13 Lit. of
- Matthew 23:14 Other mss. omit vs. 14.
- Matthew 23:15 Lit. twice as much a son of
- Matthew 23:15 Lit. Gehenna; a Gk. transliteration of the Heb. for Valley of Hinnom
- Matthew 23:16 Lit. is nothing
- Matthew 23:16 Lit. owes a debt
- Matthew 23:18 Lit. And
- Matthew 23:18 Lit. is nothing
- Matthew 23:18 Lit. owes a debt
- Matthew 23:19 Other mss. read blind and foolish men
- Matthew 23:23 Or faith
- Matthew 23:26 Other mss. read of the cup and the plate
- Matthew 23:30 The Gk. lacks shedding
- Matthew 23:32 Lit. Fill up the measure of your ancestors
- Matthew 23:33 Lit. Gehenna; a Gk. transliteration of the Heb. for Valley of Hinnom
- Matthew 23:35 Lit. on you will come
- Matthew 23:35 Cf. Gen 4:8
- Matthew 23:35 Cf. 2Chr 24:20-21
- Matthew 23:36 The Gk. pronoun you is pl.
- Matthew 23:36 Lit. to this generation
- Matthew 23:39 Cf. Ps 118:26; MT source citation reads Lord
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