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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</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/bsb/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="/bmc//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="/matthew/">Matthew</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 align="center" id="jump2"><a href="/niv/matthew/23.htm">NIV</a> • <a href="/nlt/matthew/23.htm">NLT</a> • <a href="/esv/matthew/23.htm">ESV</a> • <a href="/kjv/matthew/23.htm">KJV</a> • <a href="/nkjv/matthew/23.htm">NKJ</a> • <a href="/nasb/matthew/23.htm">NAS</a></div><br /><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="1%" valign="top">BSB</td><td width="99%" valign="top" align="right"><a href="/parallel/matthew/23.htm" style="font-weight:normal" title="Parallel Chapters">Parallel Chapters ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">Woes to Scribes and Pharisees<br /><span class="cross">(<a href ="../luke/11.htm#37">Luke 11:37–54</a>)</span><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: <A name="3"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span><span class="red">“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. <A name="4"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. <A name="5"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>They tie up heavy, burdensome loads<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.</span> <A name="6"></a><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. <A name="7"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues, <A name="8"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed.<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">b</a></span> <A name="9"></a><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. <A name="10"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. <A name="11"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ. <A name="12"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>The greatest among you shall be your servant. <A name="13"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. <A name=""></a><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Woe 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.<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">c</a></span> <A name="15"></a> <A name="16"></a><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Woe 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<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">d</a></span> as you are. <A name="17"></a><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Woe 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.’ <A name="18"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred? <A name="19"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>And 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.’ <A name="20"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred? <A name="21"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. <A name="22"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it. <A name="23"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it. <A name="24"></a><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>Woe 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. <A name="25"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">e</a></span> <A name="26"></a><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Woe 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. <A name="27"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">f</a></span> so that the outside may become clean as well. <A name="28"></a><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>Woe 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. <A name="29"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. <A name="30"></a><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous. <A name="31"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>And 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.’ <A name="32"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. <A name="33"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>Fill up, then,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">g</a></span> the measure of the sin of your fathers. <A name="34"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell? <A name="35"></a><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>Because 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 in town after town. <A name="36"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>And 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. <A name="37"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation. <A name="38"></a><p class="hdg">Lament over Jerusalem<br /><span class="cross">(<a href ="../luke/13.htm#31">Luke 13:31–35</a>)</span><p class="red"><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>O 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! <A name="39"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>Look, your house is left to you desolate.<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">h</a></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/23-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">i</a></span>”</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">4</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> SBL, NE, and WH <i>They tie up heavy loads</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">7</span> <span class="footnotesbot">b</span> Literally <i>and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by men</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">13</span> <span class="footnotesbot">c</span> BYZ and TR include <i><span class="fnv">14</span>Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.</i><span class="thin"> </span> See <a href="../mark/12.htm#40">Mark 12:40</a> and <a href="../luke/20.htm#47">Luke 20:47</a>.<br><span class="fnverse">15</span> <span class="footnotesbot">d</span> Greek <i>Gehenna</i><span class="thin"> </span>; also in verse 33<br><span class="fnverse">24</span> <span class="footnotesbot">e</span> See <a href="../leviticus/11.htm#4">Leviticus 11:4</a> and <a href="../leviticus/11.htm#23">Leviticus 11:23</a>, where camels and gnats are both forbidden as food.<br><span class="fnverse">26</span> <span class="footnotesbot">f</span> NA does not include <i>and dish</i><span class="thin"> </span>.<br><span class="fnverse">32</span> <span class="footnotesbot">g</span> Or <i>Go ahead, then, and complete</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">38</span> <span class="footnotesbot">h</span> NE and WH do not include <i>desolate</i><span class="thin"> </span>.<br><span class="fnverse">39</span> <span class="footnotesbot">i</span> <a href="../psalms/118.htm#26">Psalm 118:26</a><br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Berean Bible (<a href=http://berean.bible>www.Berean.Bible</a>) <a href=http://bereanbible.com>Berean Study Bible (BSB)</a> © 2016, 2020 by <a href=http://biblehub.com>Bible Hub</a> and <a href=http://berean.bible>Berean.Bible</a>. 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