Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

23 Then Jesus ^(A)said to the crowds and to his disciples, ^2 (B)“The scribes and the Pharisees ^(C)sit on Moses' seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, ^(D)but not the works they do. ^(E)For they preach, but do not practice. ^4 (F)They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,^[a] and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ^5 (G)They do all their deeds ^(H)to be seen by others. For they make ^(I)their phylacteries broad and ^(J)their fringes long, ⁶ and they ^(K)love the place of honor at feasts and ^(L)the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and ^(M)greetings in ^(N)the marketplaces and being called ^(O)rabbi^[b] by others. ^8 (P)But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are ^(Q)all brothers.^{[c] 9 (R)}And call no man your father on earth, for ^(S)you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, ^(T)the Christ. ^11 (U)The greatest among you shall be your servant. ^12 (V)Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³ “But woe ^(W)to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you ^(X)shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you ^(Y)neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.^{[d] 15} Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single ^(Z)proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a ^(AA)child of ^(AB)hell^[e] as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to ^(AC)you, ^(AD)blind guides, who say, ^(AE)‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or ^(AF)the temple that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by ^(AG)the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ^(AH)the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by ^(AI)him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by ^(AJ)heaven swears by ^(AK)the throne of God and by ^(AL)him who sits upon it.

^23 (AM)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(AN)you tithe mint and dill and ^(AO)cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: ^(AP)justice and mercy and faithfulness. ^(AQ)These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ^(AR)a camel!

^25 (AS)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(AT)you clean the outside of ^(AU)the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of ^(AV)greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of ^(AW)the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

^27 (AX)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like ^(AY)whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and ^(AZ)all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also ^(BA)outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of ^(BB)hypocrisy and lawlessness.

^29 (BC)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are ^(BD)sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 (BE)Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³ You serpents, ^(BF)you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to ^(BG)hell? ^34 (BH)Therefore ^(BI)I send you ^(BJ)prophets and wise men and ^(BK)scribes, ^(BL)some of whom you will kill and crucify, and ^(BM)some you will ^(BN)flog in your synagogues and ^(BO)persecute from town to town, ³⁵ so that on you may come all ^(BP)the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^(BQ)Abel to the blood of ^(BR)Zechariah the son of Barachiah,^[f] whom you murdered between ^(BS)the sanctuary and ^(BT)the altar. ³⁶ Truly, I say to you, ^(BU)all these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

^37 (BV)“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that ^(BW)kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have ^(BX)gathered ^(BY)your children together ^(BZ)as a hen gathers her brood ^(CA)under her wings, and ^(CB)you were not willing! ³⁸ See, ^(CC)your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ^(CD)‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

24 ^(CE)Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. ² But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, ^(CF)there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the End of the Age

³ As he sat on ^(CG)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him ^(CH)privately, saying, “Tell us, ^(CI)when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your ^(CJ)coming and of ^(CK)the end of the age?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, ^(CL)“See that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For ^(CM)many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am ^(CN)the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you ^(CO)are not alarmed, for this ^(CP)must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For ^(CQ)nation will rise against nation, and ^(CR)kingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^(CS)famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are but the beginning of ^(CT)the birth pains.

⁹ “Then ^(CU)they will deliver you up ^(CV)to tribulation and ^(CW)put you to death, and ^(CX)you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰ And then many will fall away^[g] and ^(CY)betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many ^(CZ)false prophets will arise ^(DA)and lead many astray. ¹² And because lawlessness will be increased, ^(DB)the love of many will grow cold. ^13 (DC)But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom ^(DD)will be proclaimed throughout the whole world ^(DE)as a testimony ^(DF)to all nations, and ^(DG)then the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁵ “So when you see the abomination of desolation ^(DH)spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in ^(DI)the holy place (^(DJ)let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ^17 (DK)Let the one who is on ^(DL)the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, ¹⁸ and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁹ And ^(DM)alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be ^(DN)great tribulation, ^(DO)such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. ²² And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for ^(DP)the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (DQ)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For ^(DR)false christs and ^(DS)false prophets will arise and ^(DT)perform great signs and wonders, ^(DU)so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, ^(DV)I have told you beforehand. ²⁶ So, if they say to you, ‘Look, ^(DW)he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ^27 (DX)For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be ^(DY)the coming of the Son of Man. ^28 (DZ)Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹ “Immediately after ^(EA)the tribulation of those days ^(EB)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(EC)the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then ^(ED)will appear in heaven ^(EE)the sign of the Son of Man, and then ^(EF)all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and ^(EG)they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven ^(EH)with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(EI)he will send out his angels with a loud ^(EJ)trumpet call, and they will ^(EK)gather ^(EL)his elect from ^(EM)the four winds, ^(EN)from one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

³² “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, ^(EO)at the very gates. ^34 (EP)Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (EQ)Heaven and earth will pass away, but ^(ER)my words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day and Hour

³⁶ “But concerning that day and hour ^(ES)no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, ^(ET)nor the Son,^{[h] (EU)}but the Father only. ^37 (EV)For as were the days of Noah, ^(EW)so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ^38 (EX)For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(EY)marrying and giving in marriage, until ^(EZ)the day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, ^(FA)so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. ^41 (FB)Two women will be grinding ^(FC)at the mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴² Therefore, ^(FD)stay awake, for you do not know on what day ^(FE)your Lord is coming. ^43 (FF)But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night ^(FG)the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also must be ^(FH)ready, for ^(FI)the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵ “Who then is ^(FJ)the faithful and ^(FK)wise servant,^[i] whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ^46 (FL)Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly, I say to you, ^(FM)he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master ^(FN)is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants^[j] and eats and drinks with ^(FO)drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come ^(FP)on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place ^(FQ)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, ^(A)our forefather according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but ^(B)not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? ^(C)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” ⁴ Now ^(D)to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵ And to the one who does not work but ^(E)believes in^[a] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

⁹ Is this blessing then only for ^(H)the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? ^(I)For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰ How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ^11 (J)He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was ^(K)to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, ¹² and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

¹³ For ^(L)the promise to Abraham and his offspring ^(M)that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ^14 (N)For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For ^(O)the law brings wrath, but ^(P)where there is no law ^(Q)there is no transgression.

¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, ^(R)in order that the promise may rest on grace and ^(S)be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, ^(T)who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ as it is written, ^(U)“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, ^(V)who gives life to the dead and calls into existence ^(W)the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ^(X)“So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was ^(Y)as good as dead (^(Z)since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered ^(AA)the barrenness^[b] of Sarah's womb. ²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ fully convinced that ^(AB)God was able to do what he had promised. ²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³ But ^(AC)the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us ^(AD)who believe in ^(AE)him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ^25 (AF)who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised ^(AG)for our justification.

Peace with God Through Faith

5 ^(AH)Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, ^(AI)we^[c] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also ^(AJ)obtained access by faith^[d] into this grace ^(AK)in which we stand, and ^(AL)we^[e] rejoice^[f] in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we ^(AM)rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering ^(AN)produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and ^(AO)hope does not put us to shame, because God's love ^(AP)has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

⁶ For ^(AQ)while we were still weak, at the right time ^(AR)Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but ^(AS)God shows his love for us in that ^(AT)while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, ^(AU)we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from ^(AV)the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if ^(AW)while we were enemies ^(AX)we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by ^(AY)his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received ^(AZ)reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

¹² Therefore, just as ^(BA)sin came into the world through one man, and ^(BB)death through sin, and ^(BC)so death spread to all men^[g] because ^(BD)all sinned— ¹³ for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but ^(BE)sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not ^(BF)like the transgression of Adam, ^(BG)who was a type of ^(BH)the one who was to come.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for ^(BI)many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For ^(BJ)the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought ^(BK)justification. ¹⁷ For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness ^(BL)reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Therefore, as one trespass^[h] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness^[i] leads to justification and life for ^(BM)all men. ¹⁹ For as by the one man's ^(BN)disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's ^(BO)obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ Now ^(BP)the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, ^(BQ)grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, ^(BR)as sin reigned in death, ^(BS)grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? ^(BT)Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can ^(BU)we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us ^(BV)who have been baptized ^(BW)into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were ^(BX)buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as ^(BY)Christ was raised from the dead by ^(BZ)the glory of the Father, we too might walk in ^(CA)newness of life.

⁵ For ^(CB)if we have been united with him in ^(CC)a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that ^(CD)our old self^{[j] (CE)}was crucified with him in order that ^(CF)the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For ^(CG)one who has died ^(CH)has been set free^[k] from sin. ⁸ Now ^(CI)if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that ^(CJ)Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ^(CK)death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, ^(CL)once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves ^(CM)dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹² Let not ^(CN)sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ^13 (CO)Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ^(CP)present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For ^(CQ)sin ^(CR)will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? ^(CS)Are we to sin ^(CT)because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves ^(CU)to anyone as obedient slaves,^[l] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But ^(CV)thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the ^(CW)standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, ^(CX)having been set free from sin, ^(CY)have become slaves of righteousness. ^19 (CZ)I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For ^(DA)just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members ^(DB)as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

^20 (DC)For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ^21 (DD)But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things ^(DE)of which you are now ashamed? ^(DF)For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you ^(DG)have been set free from sin and ^(DH)have become slaves of God, ^(DI)the fruit you get leads to sanctification and ^(DJ)its end, eternal life. ^23 (DK)For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.