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
New American Standard Bible
Eight Woes
13 “(A)But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, (B)because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.[a]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one [b](C)proselyte; and when he becomes one, you [c]make him twice as much a son of [d](D)hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, (E)blind guides, who say, ‘(F)Whoever swears by the [e]temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the [f]temple is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! (G)Which is [g]more important, the gold or the [h]temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the [i]offering that is on it is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, (H)which is [j]more important, the [k]offering or the altar that sanctifies the [l]offering? 20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by [m]the altar and by everything on it. 21 And the one who swears by the [n]temple, swears both by [o]the temple and by Him who (I)dwells in it. 22 And the one who swears by [p]heaven, (J)swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23 “(K)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and [q]cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You (L)blind guides, who [r]strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For (M)you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full [s]of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first (N)clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the [t]outside of it may also become clean.
27 “(O)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “(P)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you (Q)are [u]sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 [v]Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You snakes, (R)you [w]offspring of vipers, how [x]will you escape the [y]sentence of [z](S)hell?
34 “(T)Therefore, behold, (U)I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will (V)flog in your synagogues, and (W)persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous (X)Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the (Y)son of Berechiah, whom (Z)you murdered between the [aa]temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon (AA)this generation.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 23:13 Late mss add (traditionally v 14): Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses even while for appearances’ sake you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation (as v 14); cf. Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47
- Matthew 23:15 Or convert
- Matthew 23:15 I.e., doom him to hell
- Matthew 23:15 Gr Gehenna
- Matthew 23:16 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:16 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:17 Lit greater
- Matthew 23:17 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:18 Or gift
- Matthew 23:19 Lit greater
- Matthew 23:19 Or gift
- Matthew 23:19 Or gift
- Matthew 23:20 Lit it
- Matthew 23:21 Or sanctuary
- Matthew 23:21 Lit it
- Matthew 23:22 I.e., an indirect reference to God
- Matthew 23:23 Similar to caraway seeds
- Matthew 23:24 Or filter out
- Matthew 23:25 Or as a result of
- Matthew 23:26 If the inside was ritually unclean, the entire vessel was unclean whether the outside was cleaned or not (cf. Num 19:15)
- Matthew 23:31 Or descendants
- Matthew 23:32 I.e., finish what they started
- Matthew 23:33 Or brood
- Matthew 23:33 Lit are you to escape
- Matthew 23:33 Or judgment
- Matthew 23:33 Gr Gehenna
- Matthew 23:35 Or sanctuary
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