Matthew 23 (NMV)
1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples:
2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
3 So practice and observe whatever they tell you, but don't do what they do. For they don't practice what they preach.
4 They tie up heavy burdens that are hard to carry and place them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 Everything they do is done to be seen by others. They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels on their garments.
6 They love the place of honor at banquets, the most important seats in the synagogues,
7 greetings in the marketplaces, and being called 'Rabbi' by others.
8 But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' because you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.
9 Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, He who is in heaven.
10 And you are not to be called instructors, because you have one Instructor, the Christ.
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
12 Whoever lifts themselves up will be brought down, and whoever humbles themselves will be lifted up.
13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves don't enter, and you don't allow those trying to enter to go in.
14 [*This verse does not appear in the earliest manuscripts. If included, it reads: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows' houses and for show make long prayers. Therefore, you will receive greater judgment."*]
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when you do, you make them twice as much a child of destruction as yourselves.
16 Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, they are bound by their oath.'
17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred?
18 You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on the altar, they are bound by their oath.'
19 Blind people! Which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
21 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, hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices, mint, dill, and cumin, but you have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These you should have done without neglecting the others.
24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat [filtering to ensure not to drink unclean insects] but swallow a camel.
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may also become clean.
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like freshly painted white tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
28 In the same way, on the outside you appear righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous,
30 and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we wouldn't have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Go ahead, then, fill up the measure of your ancestors' sins!
33 You offspring of snakes! How will you escape being condemned to the fire of everlasting punishment?
34 This is why 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 that upon you may come all the righteous blood that has been shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
36 Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.
39 For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, 'Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!'"