Matthew Twenty-Three

   Then Jesus spoke with the people and with his disciples. And he said to them, The scribes and the
Pharisees sit on the chair of Moses.Therefore whatever they tell you to obey, obey and do it, but do not do according to their works; for they say and do not. And they bind heavy burdens, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to touch them, even with their finger. And all their works they do, just to be seen by men; for they widen the fringes of their garments, and they lengthen the ends of their robes, And they like the chief places at feasts, and the front seats in the synagogues, And the greetings in the streets, and to be called by men, Rabbi. But you do not be called, Rabbi; for one is your Master, and all you are brethren. And call no one on earth, father, for one is your Father in heaven. Nor be called leaders, for one is your leader, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you, let him be your minister. For whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

   ¶ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you embezzle the property of widows, with the pretense that you make long prayers; because of this you shall receive a greater judgment. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you have shut off the kingdom of heaven against men; for you do not enter into it yourselves, and do not permit those who would enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one,
you make him the son of hell twice more than yourselves. Woe to you, blind guides, for you say,
Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold which is in the temple, he is guilty! O you fools and blind! for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
And whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering that is on it, he is guilty. O you fools and blind! for which is greater, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? Therefore he who swears by the altar, he swears by it and by everything that is on it. And whoever swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you take tithes on mint, dill, and cummin, and you have overlooked the more important matters of the law, such as justice, mercy, and trustworthiness. These were necessary
for you to have done, and the same by no means to have left undone. O blind guides, who strain at gnats and swallow camels! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of extortion and iniquity. Blind Pharisees! clean first the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that their outside may also be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like tombs painted white, which look beautiful from the outside, but
inside are full of dead bones and all kinds of corruption. Even so, from the outside you appear to
men to be righteous, but from within you are full of iniquity and hypocrisy. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets, and you decorate the graves of the righteous; And you say, If we had been living in the days of our forefathers, we would not have
been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Now you testify concerning yourselves,
that you are the children of those who killed the prophets. You also fill up the measure of your fathers. O you serpents, and seed of scorpions! how can you flee from the judgment of hell?

    ¶ Because of this, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify; and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and pursue them from city to city; So that all the blood of the righteous shed on the ground may come on you, from the blood of Abel the righteous down to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, All of these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, murderess of the prophets, and stoner of those who are sent to her! how often I wanted to gather together your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and yet you would not! Behold, your house will be left to you desolate. For I say to you, from now you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.