New Testament in a Year

Jesus: ² The Pharisees and the scribes occupy the seat of Moses. ³ So you should do the things they tell you to do—but don’t do the things they do. ⁴ They heap heavy burdens upon their neighbors’ backs, and they prove unwilling to do anything to help shoulder the load. ⁵ They are interested, above all, in presentation: they wrap their heads and arms in the accoutrements of prayer, they cloak themselves with flowing tasseled prayer garments, ⁶ they covet the seats of honor at fine banquets and in the synagogue, ⁷ and they love it when people recognize them in the marketplace, call them “Teacher,” and beam at them.

⁸ But you: do not let anyone call you “Rabbi,” that is, “Teacher.” For you are all brothers, and you have only one teacher, the Anointed One. ⁹ Indeed, do not call anyone on earth “Father,” for you have only one father, and He is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither let anyone call you “leader,” for you have one leader—the Anointed One. ¹¹ If you are recognized at all, let it be for your service. Delight in the one who calls you servant. ¹² For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³ Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. There is such a gulf between what you say and what you do. You will stand before a crowd and lock the door of the kingdom of heaven right in front of everyone; you won’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from doing so.

[¹⁴ Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. What you say is not what you do. You steal the homes from under the widows while you pretend to pray for them. You will suffer great condemnation for this.]^[a]

¹⁵ Woe to you Pharisees, woe to you who teach the law, hypocrites! You traverse hills and mountains and seas to make one convert, and then when he does convert, you make him much more a son of hell than you are.

¹⁶ Woe to you who are blind but deign to lead others. You say, “Swearing by the temple means nothing, but he who swears by the gold in the temple is bound by his oath.” ¹⁷ Are you fools? You must be blind! For which is greater: the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸ You also say, “Swearing by the altar means nothing, but he who swears by the sacrifice on the altar is bound by his oath.” ¹⁹ You must be blind! Which is greater: the sacrifice or the altar that makes it sacred? ²⁰ So anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by the sacrifices and gifts laid upon it. ²¹ And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the God who sanctifies it. ²² And when you swear by heaven, you are swearing by God’s throne and by Him who sits upon it.