Old/New Testament

Warnings against scribes and Pharisees

23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The scribes and Pharisees,” he said, “sit on the seat of Moses. ³ So you must do whatever they tell you, and keep it, but don’t do the things they do. You see, they talk but they don’t do. ⁴ They tie up heavy bundles which are difficult to carry, and they dump them on people’s shoulders—but they themselves aren’t prepared to lift a little finger to move them!

⁵ “Everything they do is for show, to be seen by people. Yes, they make their prayer-boxes large and their prayer-tassels long, ⁶ and they love the chief places at dinners, the main seats in the synagogues, ⁷ the greetings in the market-places, and having people call them ‘Rabbi.’

⁸ “You mustn’t be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have one teacher, and you are all one family. ⁹ And you shouldn’t call anyone ‘father’ on earth, because you have one father, in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor should you be called ‘teacher,’ because you have one teacher, the Messiah.

¹¹ “The greatest among you should be your servant. ¹² People who make themselves great will be humbled; and people who humble themselves will become great.”

Condemnation of scribes and Pharisees (1)

¹³ “Woe betide you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” Jesus continued. “You slam the door of heaven’s kingdom in people’s faces. You don’t go in yourselves, and when other people try to enter, you stop them.

¹⁵ “Woe betide you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You cross sea and land to make one single Gentile take up Jewish practices, and when that happens you make the convert twice as much a child of Gehenna as you are yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe betide you, you blind guides! This is what you say: ‘If anyone swears by the Temple, it’s nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold in the Temple, the oath is valid.’ ¹⁷ How crazy and blind can you get! Which is greater, the gold, or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it’s nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, the oath is valid.’ ¹⁹ How blind you are! Which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the Temple swears by it and by the one who lives in it. ²² And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who sits on it.”