Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees
1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,
2 saying:“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
3 Therefore whatever they tell youto observe,thatobserve and do, but do not do according to their works; forthey say, and do not do.
4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and laythemon men’s shoulders; but theythemselveswill not move them with one of their fingers.
5 But all their works they do tobe seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
6 They love thebest places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’
8 But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is yourTeacher,the Christ,and you are all brethren.
9 Do not call anyone on earth your father;for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11 Buthe who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whoever exalts himself will behumbled, and he who humbles himself will beexalted.
13 “Butwoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go inyourselves,nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son ofhell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you,blind guides, who say,‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligedto perform it.’
17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the goldor the temple thatsanctifiesthe gold?
18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligedto perform it.’
19 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the giftor the altar that sanctifies the gift?
20 Therefore he whoswears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.
21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and byHim whodwellsin it.
22 And he who swears by heaven, swears bythe throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, andhave neglected the weightiermattersof the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion andself-indulgence.
26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of deadmen’sbones and all uncleanness.
28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets andadorn the monuments of the righteous,
30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
31 “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves thatyou are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’guilt.
33 Serpents,broodof vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:someof them you will kill and crucify, andsomeof them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth,from the blood of righteous Abel tothe blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Jesus Laments over Jerusalem
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophetsand stones those who are sent to her! How oftenI wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicksunderherwings, but you were not willing!
38 See! Your house is left to you desolate;
39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say,‘BlessedisHe who comes in the name of theLord!’ ”