Matthew 23

Critique of Religious Leaders Matthew 23:4–12

⁴Verse 4. For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them. ⁵Verse 5. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments, ⁶Verse 6. and love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷Verse 7. the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ by men. ⁸Verse 8. But don’t you be called ‘Rabbi,’ for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers. ⁹Verse 9. Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.

¹⁰Verse 10. Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Christ. ¹¹Verse 11. But he who is greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²Verse 12. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Woes Against the Scribes and Pharisees Matthew 23:13–24

¹³Verse 13. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. ¹⁴Verse 14. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. ¹⁵Verse 15. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves. ¹⁶Verse 16. “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’

¹⁷Verse 17. You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? ¹⁸Verse 18. ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’ ¹⁹Verse 19. You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? ²⁰Verse 20. He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it. ²¹Verse 21. He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who has been living in it. ²²Verse 22. He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.

²³Verse 23. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. ²⁴Verse 24. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!

Outward vs. Inward Cleanliness Matthew 23:25–28

²⁵Verse 25. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. ²⁶Verse 26. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also. ²⁷Verse 27. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. ²⁸Verse 28. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Condemnation of Jerusalem Matthew 23:29–36

²⁹Verse 29. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous, ³⁰Verse 30. and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹Verse 31. Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. ³²Verse 32. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³Verse 33. You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna? ³⁴Verse 34. Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;

³⁵Verse 35. that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶Verse 36. Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Jesus' Lament over Jerusalem Matthew 23:37–39

³⁷Verse 37. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! ³⁸Verse 38. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹Verse 39. For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”