Matthew 23 — Greek text and reception

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Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and His disciples,

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saying, “The scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses’ chair.

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Therefore do and observe everything they tell you, but do not act according to their works, for they say and do not do.

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They bind heavy burdens and lay them upon people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with their finger.

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They do all their works to be seen by people. They broaden their phylacteries and enlarge their fringes.

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They love the foremost place at dinners and the foremost seats in the synagogues,

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greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ‘Rabbi’ by people.

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But you shall not be called ‘Rabbi,’ for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.

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And call no one upon earth your father, for One is your Father, the heavenly One.

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Nor shall you be called guides, because One is your Guide, the Christ.

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But the greatest among you will be your servant.

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Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of the heavens before people! For you do not enter, nor do you permit those entering to enter.

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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him a son of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves!

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Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound.’

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Fools and blind men! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold?

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And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift upon it is bound.’

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Blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

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Therefore the one swearing by the altar swears by it and by everything upon it.

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The one swearing by the sanctuary swears by it and by the One dwelling in it.

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The one swearing by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One seated upon it.

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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, but have left aside the weightier matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness! These you ought to have done without leaving those aside.

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Blind guides, straining out the gnat but swallowing the camel!

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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence!

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Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, so that its outside may also become clean.

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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you resemble whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness!

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So you too outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the prophets’ tombs and adorn the monuments of the righteous,

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and say, ‘If we had lived in our fathers’ days, we would not have shared with them in the blood of the prophets.’

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So you testify concerning yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

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You, then, fill up the measure of your fathers!

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Snakes, brood of vipers! How will you flee from the judgment of Gehenna?

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Therefore behold, I send you prophets, wise people, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,

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so that upon you may come all righteous blood poured out upon earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

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Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

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Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wished to gather your children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling!

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Behold, your house is left to you desolate.

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For I tell you, you will certainly not see Me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the One coming in the name of the Lord.’”