Godbey - Matthew - 23

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

23:2  saying, The scribes and Pharisees sat upon the seat of Moses;

23:3  therefore do and keep all things so many as they may speak to you, but do not according to their works; for they say, and do not.

23:4  But they bind heavy burdens, and place them on the shoulders of the people; and they themselves are not willing to touch them with their finger.

23:5  And they do all their works to be seen by the people: for they broaden their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

23:6  and they love the first couch at the suppers, and the first seats in the synagogues,

23:7  and salutations in the forums, and to be called by the people, ""Doctor.""

23:8  But be ye not called Doctor: for One is your teacher; and you are all brothers.

23:9  And call no man father upon the earth: for One is your Heavenly Father.

23:10  Be not called teachers: because One is your teacher, Christ.

23:11  And the great of you shall be your deacon.

23:12  But whosoever shall exalt himself, shall be abased; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.

23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut up the kingdom of the heavens against the people: for you do not go in, neither do you permit those coming in to enter.

23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you compass the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when it may be done, you make him twofold more the son of hell than yourselves.

23:16  Woe unto you, blind guides, who are saying, Whosoever may swear by the temple it is nothing; but whosoever may swear by the gold of the temple, he is debtor.

23:17  Ye fools and blind: for which is the greater, the gold, or the temple sanctifying the gold?

23:18  And, Whosoever may swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever may swear by the gift upon it, is debtor.

23:19  Ye blind: for which is the greater, the gift, or the altar which sanctifies the gift?

23:20  Therefore the one swearing by the altar, swears by it, and by all things which are on it.

23:21  And the one swearing by the temple, swears by it, and by Him who inhabited it.

23:22  And the one swearing by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by Him that sitteth upon it.

23:23  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you tithe mint and anise and cummin, and pass by the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: it behooves to do these and not to neglect those.

23:24  Ye blind guides, who strain out the gnat, and swallow down the camel.

23:25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you purify the exterior of the cup and the plate, and within they are full of extortion and impurity.

23:26  Ye blind Pharisee, first purify the inside of the cup, in order that its outside may be clean.

23:27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you are like whitened sepulchers, which are beautiful indeed externally, but within they are full of the hones of the dead people, and every impurity.

23:28  So you also appear unto the people indeed righteous, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

23:29  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you build the tombs of the prophets, and ornament the sepulchers of the righteous,

23:30  and you say, If we were in the days of our fathers we would not have been their fellow-partakers in the blood of the prophets.

23:31  So you witness to yourselves, that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.

23:32  And you fill up the measure of your fathers.

23:33  Ye serpents, generations of vipers, how can you escape from the judgment of hell?

23:34  Therefore I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: you will kill and crucify some of them; and will scourge some of them in your synagogues, and will persecute them from city to city;

23:35  in order that all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zachariah the son of the blessed, whom they slew between the temple and the altar, may come upon you.

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

23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that have been sent unto thee! how frequently did I wish to gather together thy children, in the manner in which a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but ye were not willing!

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

23:39  For I say unto you, that ye can see me no more until you can say; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.