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Matthew 23
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Chapter 23
The scribes and Pharisees: their hypocrisy and vanity
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Then addressing the people and his disciples Jesus said,
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‘The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses.
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You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach.
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They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they!
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Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels[*a],
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like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues,
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being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi.
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‘You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one master, and you are all brothers.
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You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven.
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Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ.
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The greatest among you must be your servant.
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Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will exalted.
The sevenfold indictment of the scribes and Pharisees
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‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who shut up the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces, neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to go in[*b] who want to.
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‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when you have him you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.
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‘Alas for you, blind guides! You who say, “If a man swears by the Temple, it has no force; but if a man swears by the gold of the Temple, he is bound”.
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Fools and blind! For which is of greater worth, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?
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Or else, “If a man swears by the altar it has no force; but if a man swears by the offering that is on the altar, he is bound”.
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You blind men! For which is of greater worth, the offering or the altar that makes the offering sacred?
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Therefore, when a man swears by the altar he is swearing by that and by everything on it.
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And when a man swears by the Temple he is swearing by that and by the One who dwells in it.
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And when a man swears by heaven he is swearing by the throne of God and by the One who is seated there.
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‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cummin[*c] and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others.
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You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing camels!
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‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance.
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Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.
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‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of corruption.
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In the same way you appear to people from the outside like good honest men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
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‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who build the sepulchres of the prophets and decorate the tombs of holy men,
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saying, “We would never have joined in shedding the blood of the prophets, had we lived in our fathers’ day”.
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So! Your own evidence tells against you! You are the sons of those who murdered the prophets!
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Very well then, finish off the work that your fathers began.
Their crimes and approaching punishment
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‘Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape being condemned to hell?
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This is why, in my turn, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes: some you will slaughter and crucify, some you will scourge in your synagogues and hunt from town to town;
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and so you will draw down on yourselves the blood of every holy man that has been shed on earth, from the blood of Abel the Holy to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah[*d] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
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I tell you solemnly, all of this will recoil on this generation.
Jerusalem admonished
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‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you refused!
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So be it! Your house will be left to you desolate,
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for, I promise, you shall not see me any more until you say: Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!'[*e]
Chapters of Matthew
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