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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 NIV</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> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><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="../">NIV</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">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/matthew/23.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">A Warning Against Hypocrisy</p><p class="reg"><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="red">“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span><span class="red">So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span><span class="red">They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.</span></p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span><span class="red">“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm">a</a></sup></span> wide and the tassels on their garments long;</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span><span class="red">they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span><span class="red">they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.</span></p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span><span class="red">“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span><span class="red">And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span><span class="red">Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span><span class="red">The greatest among you will be your servant.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span><span class="red">For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.</span></p> <p class="sectionhead">Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span><span class="red">“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-14.htm"><b>[14]</b></a></span> <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.">b</a></sup></span> </p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span><span class="red">“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.</span></p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span><span class="red">“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span><span class="red">You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span><span class="red">You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span><span class="red">You blind men! 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="red">Therefore, anyone who 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="red">And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span><span class="red">And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.</span></p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span><span class="red">“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span><span class="red">You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.</span></p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span><span class="red">“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, 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="red">Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.</span></p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span><span class="red">“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span><span class="red">In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.</span></p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span><span class="red">“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span><span class="red">And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, 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="red">So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants 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="red">Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!</span></p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span><span class="red">“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span><span class="red">Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span><span class="red">And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span><span class="red">Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.</span></p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span><span class="red">“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks 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="red">Look, 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="red">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 class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Psalm 118:26">c</a></sup></span> ”</span></p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">5</span> <span class="footnotebot">That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">14</span> <span class="footnotebot">Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">39</span> <span class="footnotebot">Psalm 118:26</span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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