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Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples: 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So do whatever they tell you and obey their teachings. But do not do what they do. For they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy burdens that are hard to carry and put them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.
5 “They do all their deeds to be seen by others: They make their phylacteries wide, and the tassels on their garments long. 6 They love to have the place of honour at banquets, and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and to be greeted in the marketplaces, and having men call them ‘Rabbi’.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’, because you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man on earth ‘father’, for you have one Father, and He is in heaven. 10 And do not be called ‘teacher’, for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you willl be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You neither go in yourselves, nor will you allow those who are trying to enter to go in.
14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and make long prayers for a show. Therefore you will receive a worser condemnation.
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across land and sea to win a single convert, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as you are.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it means nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath’. 17 You blind fools! For which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath’. 19 You blind people! For which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by Heaven, swears by the Throne of God, and by the One who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and dill and cummin, yet you neglect the more important issues of the law—justice and mercy and faith. These things you should have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat, yet you swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may also become clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28 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! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets’. 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins.
33 “You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to Gehenna? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 So upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, all these things will come upon this generation.
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I have wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’!”