Matthew 23

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¹Then Jesus spoke to the multitude, and to his disciples,

²Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses's seat.

³All therefore, whatever they bid you observe, that observe and do: but do not ye according to their works: for they say, and do not.

⁴For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

⁵But all their works they do to be seen by men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

⁶And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

⁷And greetings in the markets, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

⁸But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

⁹And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁰Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even Christ.

¹¹But he that is greatest among you, shall be your servant.

¹²And whoever shall exalt himself, shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself, shall be exalted.

¹³But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves , neither suffer ye them that are entering, to go in.

¹⁴Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

¹⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves.

¹⁶Woe to you, ye blind guides, who say, Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.

¹⁷Ye fools, and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

¹⁸And whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

¹⁹Ye fools, and blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

²⁰Whoever therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things upon it.

²¹And whoever shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth in it.

²²And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth upon it.

²³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ye ought to have done, and not to leave the others undone.

²⁴Ye blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.

²⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

²⁶Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

²⁷Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like whitened sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

²⁸Thus ye also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

²⁹Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous,

³⁰And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

³¹Wherefore ye are witnesses to yourselves, that ye are the children of them who killed the prophets.

³²Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

³³Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

³⁴Wherefore behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye will kill and crucify, and some of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

³⁵That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

³⁶Verily I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.

³⁷O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them who are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered thy children, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

³⁸Behold, your house is left to you desolate.

³⁹For I say to you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.