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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 NLT</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="../">NLT</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 Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/matthew/23.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders</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 religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span><span class="red">So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span><span class="red">They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.</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 for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span><span class="red">And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor 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 receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a></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">“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span><span class="red">And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span><span class="red">And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, 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 must be a servant.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span><span class="red">But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.</span></p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span><span class="red">“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a></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">“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">f</span></a> you yourselves 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">“Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span><span class="red">Blind fools! Which is more important—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">And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span><span class="red">How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar 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">When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing 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 when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span><span class="red">And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.</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">“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">g</span></a> but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span><span class="red">Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">h</span></a></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">“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—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">You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">i</span></a> and then the outside will become clean, too.</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">“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span><span class="red">Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.</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">“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span><span class="red">Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’</span></p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span><span class="red">“But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed 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 and finish what your ancestors started.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span><span class="red">Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?</span></p><p class="reg"> <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 wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span><span class="red">As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple 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="red">I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation.</span></p><p class="hdg">Jesus Grieves over Jerusalem</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span><span class="red">“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/23-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span><span class="red">And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">j</span></a></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 this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the </span><span class="red"><span class="sc">Lord</span></span><span class="red">!’<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">k</span></a>”</span></p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:2 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">and the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:5 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:7 </span><span class="it">Rabbi,</span><span class="ft"> from Aramaic, means “master” or “teacher.”</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:8 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">brothers.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:13 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts add verse 14, </span><span class="it">What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, you will be severely punished.</span><span class="ft"> Compare Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.</span><br><span class="fn">f</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:15 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">of Gehenna;</span><span class="ft"> also in 23:33.</span><br><span class="fn">g</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:23 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">tithe the mint, the dill, and the cumin.</span><br><span class="fn">h</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:24 </span><span class="ft">See Lev 11:4, 23, where gnats and camels are both forbidden as food.</span><br><span class="fn">i</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:26 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts do not include </span><span class="it">and the dish.</span><br><span class="fn">j</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:38 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts do not include </span><span class="it">and desolate.</span><br><span class="fn">k</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">23:39 </span><span class="ft">Ps 118:26.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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