Matthew Chapter 23    

¹Then Jesus spoke to the crowd and to his disciples,
  ²saying, “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,
  ³therefore, everything, whatever they tell you, do and observe. But do not do according to their works, for they say things, and do not do them.
  ⁴For they tie up burdens that are heavy and hard to carry and they lay them on people’s shoulders, but they are unwilling to help move them with their finger.
  ⁵And they do all their works in order to be seen by people, for they widen their phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels on their clothes,
  ⁶and they like to sit in the place of honor at the feasts and the places of honor in the synagogues,
  ⁷and to receive greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.
  ⁸But you, you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for one is your teacher, and all of you are brothers.
  ⁹And do not call anyone on earth your ‘father,’ for one is your Father, the heavenly Father.
  ¹⁰Neither be called ‘guides,’ for you have one guide—the Christ.^{a
  11}But the greatest among you will be your servant.
  ¹²And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
 

¹³“But how terrible it will be for you, experts in the law and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the Kingdom of Heaven right in front of people, for you do not enter, nor do you allow the ones entering to enter.
  ¹⁴[[How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers. For that reason you will receive the greater damnation.]]
 

¹⁵“How terrible it will be for you, experts in the law and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel over the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
 

¹⁶“How terrible it will be for you, you blind guides who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary, he is obligated by his oath.’
  ¹⁷You no-goods and blind men! For which is greater, the gold, or the sanctuary that has made the gold holy?
  ¹⁸You also say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated by his oath.’
  ¹⁹Blind men! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift holy?
  ²⁰Therefore the one who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.
  ²¹And the one who swears by the sanctuary, swears by it, and by the one who dwells in it.
  ²²And the one who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by the one sitting on it.
 

²³“How terrible it will be for you, you experts in the law and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the law, which are justice and mercy and faithfulness. But it is necessary to do those things, and not neglect the other.
  ²⁴You blind guides, who are straining out the gnat but swallowing the camel!
 

²⁵“How terrible it will be for you, you experts in the law and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
  ²⁶You blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup, so that the outside of it will be clean also.
 

²⁷“How terrible it will be for you, you experts in the law and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs that outwardly do indeed appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead people’s bones and of every kind of impurity.
  ²⁸In the same way, outwardly, you also appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
 

²⁹“How terrible it will be for you, you experts in the law and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
  ³⁰and you say, ‘If we had been in the days of our fathers we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the prophets.’
  ³¹Consequently, you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
  ³²And you—go fill up the measure of your fathers’ sins!
  ³³Snakes! You offspring of vipers! How can you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
  ³⁴Therefore, Look! I am sending to you prophets, and wise people, and experts in the law. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will whip in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,
  ³⁵so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
  ³⁶Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
 

³⁷“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, she who keeps on killing the prophets and stoning the ones who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together in the same way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
  ³⁸Look! Your house is left to you desolate.
  ³⁹For I say to you, you will absolutely not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”^b