A Warning Against Hypocrisy^(A)(B)

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law^(C) and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴ They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.^(D)

⁵ “Everything they do is done for people to see:^(E) They make their phylacteries^[a](F) wide and the tassels on their garments^(G) long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;^{(H) 7} they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.^(I)

⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father,^(J) and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant.^{(K) 12} For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.^(L)

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

¹³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!^(M) You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.^{(N) [14] [b]}

¹⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,^(O) and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell^(P) as you are.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides!^(Q) You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’^{(R) 17} You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?^{(S) 18} You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?^{(T) 20} Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells^(U) in it. ²² And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.^(V)

²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth^(W) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.^(X) You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides!^(Y) You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

²⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,^(Z) but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.^{(AA) 26} Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,^(AB) which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets^(AC) and decorate the graves of the righteous. ³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.^{(AD) 32} Go ahead, then, and complete^(AE) what your ancestors started!^(AF)

³³ “You snakes! You brood of vipers!^(AG) How will you escape being condemned to hell?^{(AH) 34} Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;^(AI) others you will flog in your synagogues^(AJ) and pursue from town to town.^{(AK) 35} And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel^(AL) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,^(AM) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.^{(AN) 36} Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.^(AO)

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,^(AP) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,^(AQ) and you were not willing. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate.^{(AR) 39} For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’^[c]”^(AS)

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King^(A)(B)

11 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany^(C) at the Mount of Olives,^(D) Jesus sent two of his disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden.^(E) Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

⁴ They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway.^(F) As they untied it, ⁵ some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” ⁶ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. ⁷ When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹ Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.^(I)

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree and Clears the Temple Courts^(J)(K)(L)

¹² The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³ Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.^{(M) 14} Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

¹⁵ On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, ¹⁶ and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷ And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’^[c]?^(N) But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’^[d]”^(O)

¹⁸ The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him,^(P) because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.^(Q)

¹⁹ When evening came, Jesus and his disciples^[e] went out of the city.^(R)

²⁰ In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi,^(S) look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

²² “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³ “Truly^[f] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.^{(T) 24} Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.^{(U) 25} And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”^{(V) [26] [g]}

The Authority of Jesus Questioned^(W)

²⁷ They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. ²⁸ “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰ John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!”

³¹ They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)^(X)

³³ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”