Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. 2 He said, “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses’ chair.[1] 3 So whatever they tell you, do it and keep it — but do not follow their actions, because they talk but they don’t do. 4 They tie up heavy loads and pile them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves won’t lift a finger to move them. 5 Everything they do is done to be seen by others. They make their prayer boxes wide and their tassels long.[2] 6 They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and greetings in the marketplaces, and having people call them ‘Rabbi.’
8 “But you — don’t let yourselves be called ‘Rabbi,’ because you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And don’t call anyone on earth your ‘father,’ because you have one Father — the one in heaven. 10 And don’t be called ‘instructors,’ because you have one instructor — the Anointed One. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 Whoever lifts himself up will be brought low, and whoever lowers himself will be lifted up.
13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You don’t go in yourselves, and you won’t let those who are trying to enter go in.
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel across sea and land to make a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as you are.[3]
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If someone swears by the temple, it means nothing — but if someone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound.’ 17 You fools — blind ones! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold holy? 18 And you say, ‘If someone swears by the altar, it means nothing — but if someone swears by the gift on it, he is bound.’ 19 Blind ones! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 So the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And the one who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And the one 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, you hypocrites! You tithe mint and dill and cumin, but you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you should have done, without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.[4]
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs — they look beautiful on the outside, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.[5] 28 In the same way, on the outside you look upright to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who did right, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead then — fill up the measure of your fathers! 33 You snakes, you nest of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
34 “Look — because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and chase from city to city. 35 And so all the innocent blood shed on the earth will come on you, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.[6] 36 Amen, I tell you, all this will come upon this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem — you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings — and you weren’t willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you, abandoned. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now on until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Notes
Note 1. A later rabbinic text speaks of “the chair of Moses” (Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 1:7). ↩
Note 2. The Greek word is phylakteria — literally “safeguards,” a word used for protective charms. Jews call them tefillin: small leather cases holding tiny parchment scrolls of scripture, strapped to the forehead and arm for prayer (Deuteronomy 6:8). ↩
Note 3. “Gehenna” comes from the Valley of Hinnom, a ravine just outside Jerusalem where children had once been sacrificed (Jeremiah 7:31). ↩
Note 4. The Law forbids eating swarming insects (Leviticus 11:20–23, 41–43) and counts the camel unclean (Leviticus 11:4). ↩
Note 5. The Mishnah says graves were marked with lime (Maaser Sheni 5:1); under the Law, touching a grave made a person unclean for seven days (Numbers 19:16). ↩
Note 6. The Zechariah stoned “in the court of the house of the LORD” is the son of Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24:20–22); the prophet Zechariah is the son of Berechiah (Zechariah 1:1). Luke’s parallel (11:51) names no father. ↩