Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Seven Woes
23 Then Yeshua spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying, “The Torah scholars and Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses. 3 So whatever they tell you, do and observe. But don’t do what they do; for what they say, they do not do. 4 They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry,[a] and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them. 5 All their works they do to be noticed by men. They make their tefillin wide and their tzitziyot long. [b] 6 They love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called rabbi by men.
8 “But you are not to be called rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man on earth your father; for One is your Father, who is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Messiah. 11 But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
13 “But woe to you, Torah scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not enter yourselves, nor do you let those enter who are trying to go in. (14 )[c]
15 “Woe to you, Torah scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel over land and sea to make one convert. And when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourself.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘Whoever swears by the Temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Temple, he is obligated.’ 17 O fools and blind ones! Which is greater, the gold or the Temple that made the gold holy? [d] 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 O blind ones! Which is greater, the offering or the altar that makes the offering holy? [e] 20 Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the Temple, swears both by the Temple and by Him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, Torah scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! You tithe[f] mint and dill and cumin, yet you have neglected the weightier matters of Torah—justice and mercy and faithfulness. It is necessary to do these things without neglecting the others. 24 O blind guides, straining out a gnat while swallowing a camel!
25 “Woe to you, Torah scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and uncontrolled desire. 26 O blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.
27 “Woe to you, Torah scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, you appear righteous to men on the outside, but are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, Torah scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the tzaddikim. 30 And you say, ‘If we’d been alive in the days of our forefathers, we wouldn’t have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers! 33 O snakes, you brood of vipers! How will you escape the condemnation of Gehenna?
34 “Because of this, behold, I’m sending you prophets and wise men and Torah scholars. Some of them you will kill and execute at the stake, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city. 35 And so, upon you shall come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah,[g] whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. [h] 36 Amen, I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.”
Holy Temple to Be Destroyed
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate! [i] 39 For I tell you, you will never see Me again until you say, ‘Baruch ha-ba b’shem Adonai. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”[j]
24 Now when Yeshua went out and was going away from the Temple, His disciples came up to point out to Him the Temple buildings. 2 “Don’t you see all these?” He responded to them. “Amen, I tell you, not one stone will be left here on top of another—every one will be torn down!”
Signs of the End of Time
3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Yeshua answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray! 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will lead many astray. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must happen but it is not yet the end. 7 For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.[k] And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 But all these things are only the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then they will hand you over to persecution and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of My name. 10 And then many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one other. 11 Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 This Good News of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
15 “So when you see ‘the abomination of desolation,’[l] which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 The one on the roof must not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and the one in the field must not turn back to get his coat. 19 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 Pray that your escape will not happen in winter, or on Shabbat. 21 For then there will be great trouble,[m] such as has not happened since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 And unless those days were cut short, no one would be delivered. But for the sake of the chosen, those days will be cut short.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here’s the Messiah,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up[n] and show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “So if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. Or, ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For just as lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.
29 “But immediately after the trouble of those days,
‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light
and the stars will fall from heaven
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’[o]
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’[p] with power and great glory. 31 He will send out His angels with a great shofar, and they will gather together His chosen from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”[q]
Watching for Messiah’s Return
32 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the door. 34 Amen, I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. [r] 36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son,[s] except the Father alone.
37 “For just as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. 39 And they did not understand until the flood came and swept them all away.[t] So shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field, one taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill, one taken and one left. [u] 42 Therefore stay alert; for you do not know what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what time the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
The Faithful Servant
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master put in charge of his household to give them food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whose master finds him so doing when he comes. 47 Amen, I tell you, his master will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is taking a long time,’ 49 and he begins to beat his fellow servants, and he eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. 51 And he will cut him in two and assign his place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.