AFV2020 - Matthew - 23

23:1  Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,

23:2  Saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have sat down on Moses' seat as judges;

23:3  Therefore, every judgment that they tell you to observe, observe and do. But do not do according to their works; for they say and do not.

23:4  For they bind heavy burdens and hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of men; but they will not move them with one of their own fingers.

23:5  And they do all their works to be seen by men. They make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments;

23:6  And they love the first place at the suppers, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

23:7  And the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'

23:8  But you are not to be called Rabbi; for one is your Master, the Christ, and all of you are brethren.

23:9  Also, do not call anyone on the earth your Father; for one is your Father, Who is in heaven.

23:10  Neither be called Master; for one is your Master, the Christ.

23:11  But the greatest among you shall be your servant.

23:12  And whoever will exalt himself shall be humbled; and whoever will humble himself shall be exalted.

23:13  But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and as a pretext you offer prayers of great length. Because of this, you shall receive the greater judgment.

23:14  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven before men; for neither do you yourselves enter, nor do you allow those who are entering to enter.

23:15  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when he has become one, you make him twofold more a son of Gehenna than yourselves.

23:16  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is not binding; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is obligated to fulfill his oath.'

23:17  You fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple which sanctifies the gold?

23:18  And you say, 'Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is not binding; but whoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is obligated to fulfill his oath.'

23:19  You fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar which sanctifies the gift?

23:20  Therefore, the one who swears by the altar swears by it, and by all things that are upon it.

23:21  And the one who swears by the temple swears by it, and by Him Who dwells in it.

23:22  And the one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God, and by Him Who sits upon it.

23:23  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin, but you have abandoned the more important matters of the law—judgment, and mercy and faith. These you were obligated to do, and not to leave the others undone.

23:24  Blind guides, who filter out a gnat, but swallow a camel!

23:25  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but within you are full of extortion and excess.

23:26  Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may also become clean.

23:27  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful on the outside, but within are full of the bones of the dead, and of all uncleanness.

23:28  Likewise, you also outwardly appear to men to be righteous, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

23:29  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the sepulchers of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the righteous;

23:30  And you 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.'

23:31  So then, you are testifying against yourselves, that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets;

23:32  And as for you, you are filling up the measure of your fathers.

23:33  You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how shall you escape the judgment of Gehenna?

23:34  Because of this, behold, I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes; and some of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues, and some of them you shall persecute from city to city;

23:35  So that upon you may come all the righteous blood poured out upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous, unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

23:36  Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.

23:37  Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who have been sent to you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you refused!

23:38  Behold, your house is left to you desolate.

23:39  For I say to you, you shall not see Me at all from this time forward, until you shall say, 'Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord.' ”