Matthew 23

Modern

Literal

Woes to Scribes and Pharisees

¹Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples:

¹Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,

²“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

²saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sat down on Moses’ seat.

³So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

³Therefore do and observe all things, whatsoever they might tell you. But do not do according to their works, for they speak and do not do.

⁴They tie up heavy, burdensome loads^a and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁴And they tie up burdens heavy and hard to bear, and they lay them on the shoulders of men; but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

⁵All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.

⁵And they do all their works in order to be seen by men. For they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.

⁶They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues,

⁶And they love the chief place at the suppers, and the first seats in the synagogues,

⁷the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed.^a

⁷and the greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by men.

⁸But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

⁸But you shall not be called ‘Rabbi,’ for your Teacher is One, and you are all brothers.

⁹And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

⁹And you shall call no one your father on the earth, for One is your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁰Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ.

¹⁰Neither shall you be called instructors, because One is your Instructor, the Christ.

¹¹The greatest among you shall be your servant.

¹¹But the greatest among you will be your servant.

¹²For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹²And whoever will exalt himself will be humbled, and whoever will humble himself will be exalted.

¹³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.^a

¹³But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of the heavens before men. For you do not enter, nor even do you allow those who are entering to enter.

¹⁴—

¹⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell^a as you are.

¹⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you traverse the sea and the dry land to make one convert, and when he might become one, you make him twofold more a son of Gehenna than yourselves.

¹⁶Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

¹⁶Woe to you, blind guides, those saying, ‘Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.’

¹⁷You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?

¹⁷Foolish and blind ones! For which is greater: the gold, or the temple having sanctified the gold?

¹⁸And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’

¹⁸And you say, ‘Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it is bound by his oath.’

¹⁹You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred?

¹⁹Blind ones! For which is greater: the gift, or the altar sanctifying the gift?

²⁰So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

²⁰Therefore the one having sworn by the altar swears by it and by all things that are upon it.

²¹And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it.

²¹And the one having sworn by the temple swears by it and by the One dwelling in it.

²²And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it.

²²And the one having sworn by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the One sitting upon it.

²³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

²³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin, and you left aside the weightier things of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. And it was necessary to do these, and those not to leave aside.

²⁴You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.^a

²⁴Blind guides—those straining out the gnat and swallowing up the camel!

²⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

²⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of plundering and self-indulgence.

²⁶Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish,^a so that the outside may become clean as well.

²⁶Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that its outside might become clean also.

²⁷Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.

²⁷Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed on the outside appear beautiful, but on the inside they are full of bones of the dead and of all uncleanness.

²⁸In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

²⁸Thus also on the outside you indeed appear righteous to men, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.

²⁹Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous.

³⁰And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

³⁰And you say, ‘If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

³¹So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.

³¹Thus you bear witness to yourselves that you are sons of those having murdered the prophets.

³²Fill up, then,^a the measure of the sin of your fathers.

³²And you, fill up the measure of your fathers.

³³You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

³³Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How shall you escape from the judgment of Gehenna?

³⁴Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.

³⁴Because of this, behold, I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and will persecute from city to city,

³⁵And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

³⁵so that upon you shall come all the righteous blood being poured out upon the earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

³⁶Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

³⁶Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

³⁷O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

³⁷O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those sent to her! How often I willed to gather together your children, the way that a hen gathers together her chicks under the wings, and you were not willing!

³⁸Look, your house is left to you desolate.^a

³⁸Behold, your house is left to you desolate!

³⁹For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”^a

³⁹For I say to you, you shall not see Me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the One coming in the name of the Lord.’”