Matthew 23:13-36
World English Bible
13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
14 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter.[a] 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna[b] as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’ 19 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it. 21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who has been living[c] in it. 22 He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin,[d] and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. 24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.[e] 26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?[f] 34 Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
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- 23:14 Some Greek texts reverse the order of verses 13 and 14, and some omit verse 13, numbering verse 14 as 13. NU omits verse 14.
- 23:15 or, Hell
- 23:21 NU reads “lives”
- 23:23 cumin is an aromatic seed from Cuminum cyminum, resembling caraway in flavor and appearance. It is used as a spice.
- 23:25 TR reads “self-indulgence” instead of “unrighteousness”
- 23:33 or, Hell
Matthew 23:13-36
Christian Standard Bible
13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.[a](A)
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert,(B) and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are!
16 “Woe to you, blind guides,(C) who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the temple, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath(D) by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.’[b] 17 Blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 Also, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it means nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’ 19 Blind people![c] For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?(E) 20 Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it. 21 The one who takes an oath by the temple takes an oath by it and by him who dwells(F) in it. 22 And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne(G) and by him who sits on it.(H)
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of[d] mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice,(I) mercy, and faithfulness.[e] These things should have been done without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides!(J) You strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed[f] and self-indulgence.(K) 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,[g] so that the outside of it[h] may also become clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,(L) which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors’ sins!(M)
33 “Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell?[i](N) 34 This is why I am sending you prophets,(O) sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues(P) and pursue from town to town. 35 So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you,[j] from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah,(Q) son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.(R) 36 Truly I tell you, all these things will come on this generation.(S)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 23:13 Some mss include v. 14: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show. This is why you will receive a harsher punishment.
- 23:16 Lit is obligated, also in v. 18
- 23:19 Other mss read Fools and blind
- 23:23 Or You tithe
- 23:23 Or faith
- 23:25 Or full of violence
- 23:26 Other mss add and dish
- 23:26 Other mss read of them
- 23:33 Lit escape from the judgment of gehenna
- 23:35 Lit will come on you
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