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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Matthew 23 ESV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/matthew/23.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/matthew/23-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ESV</a> > Matthew 23</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../matthew/22.htm" title="Matthew 22">◄</a> Matthew 23 <a href="../matthew/24.htm" title="Matthew 24">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/matthew/23.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap"><p class="heading">Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span><span class="woc">“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span><span class="woc">so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span><span class="woc">They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Some manuscripts omit hard to bear">a</a></sup></span> and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span><span class="woc">They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span><span class="woc">and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span><span class="woc">and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Rabbi means my teacher, or my master; also verse 8">b</a></sup></span> by others.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span><span class="woc">But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or brothers and sisters">c</a></sup></span></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span><span class="woc">And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span><span class="woc">Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span><span class="woc">The greatest among you shall be your servant.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span><span class="woc">Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.</span></p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span><span class="woc">“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Some manuscripts add here (or after verse 12) verse 14: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation">d</a></sup></span></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span><span class="woc">Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Greek Gehenna; also verse 33">e</a></sup></span> as yourselves.</span></p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span><span class="woc">“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span><span class="woc">You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span><span class="woc">And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span><span class="woc">You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span><span class="woc">So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span><span class="woc">And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span><span class="woc">And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.</span></p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span><span class="woc">“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span><span class="woc">You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!</span></p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span><span class="woc">“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span><span class="woc">You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.</span></p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span><span class="woc">“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span><span class="woc">So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.</span></p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span><span class="woc">“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span><span class="woc">saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span><span class="woc">Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span><span class="woc">Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span><span class="woc">You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span><span class="woc">Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span><span class="woc">so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah,<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Some manuscripts omit the son of Barachiah">f</a></sup></span> whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span><span class="woc">Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.</span></p> <p class="heading">Lament over Jerusalem</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span><span class="woc">“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span><span class="woc">See, your house is left to you desolate.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span><span class="woc">For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”</span></p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="footnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">4</span> Some manuscripts omit <i class="catch-word">hard to bear</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">7</span> <i class="catch-word">Rabbi</i> means <i>my teacher</i>, or <i>my master</i>; also verse 8<br /><span class="footnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">8</span> Or <i><span class="catch-word">brothers</span> and sisters</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">d</span> <span class="fnverse">13</span> Some manuscripts add here (or after verse 12) verse 14: <i>Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">e</span> <span class="fnverse">15</span> Greek <i language="Greek">Gehenna</i>; also verse 33<br /><span class="footnotesbot">f</span> <span class="fnverse">35</span> Some manuscripts omit <i class="catch-word">the son of Barachiah</i><br /></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">ESV Text Edition® (2016).<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by <a href="http://www.crossway.org/home/esv/">Crossway Bibles</a>, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 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