Matthew 23

Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

1Then Jesus talked to the crowd of people and to his followers.

2Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:

2He said, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Scribes were men who copied and taught God's law. Pharisees were leaders who kept many rules. Sitting in Moses' seat means they teach the law God gave Moses."

3All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

3"So do what they tell you to do. But do not copy the way they live. They say good things, but they do not do them."

4For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

4"They pile up rules like heavy loads. They lay the loads on people's shoulders. They will not lift one finger to help carry them."

5But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

5"They do everything so that people will watch them. They wear wide prayer boxes on their bodies. They make the tassels on their clothes extra long."

Note"Phylacteries" were small leather boxes holding words from God's law. Men tied them on the arm and the forehead. "Borders of their garments" means the tassels sewn on the corners of their clothes.

6And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

6"They love the best seats at dinners. They love the front seats in the synagogues, the buildings where people met to worship God."

7And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

7"They love it when people greet them in the market. They love being called 'Rabbi,' which means teacher."

8But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

8"But you must not be called Rabbi. You have only one Teacher, the Christ, the King God promised to send. You are all brothers and sisters."

9And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

9"Do not call any man on earth your Father. You have one Father, and he is in heaven."

10Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

10"Do not let people call you leaders. You have one Leader, and he is the Christ."

11But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

11"The greatest one among you must be the one who serves the others."

12And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

12"Anyone who lifts himself up will be brought down. Anyone who makes himself low will be lifted up."

13But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

13"How terrible for you, scribes and Pharisees! You are pretenders. You shut the door of God's kingdom in people's faces. You will not go in yourselves. And you will not let others go in."

Note"Woe unto you" is old English for "how terrible for you." It is a warning that trouble is coming.

14Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

14"How terrible for you, scribes and Pharisees! You are pretenders. You take the homes of widows, women whose husbands have died. Then you say long prayers to look good. Your punishment will be worse."

ManuscriptsMost modern translations leave this verse out. It is in the Greek text the King James translators worked from, but not in the older manuscripts found since, so scholars generally take it as a copyist’s addition rather than part of the original.

15Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

15"How terrible for you, scribes and Pharisees! You are pretenders. You travel over sea and land to win just one new follower. Then you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are."

16Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

16"How terrible for you, blind guides! You say a promise made on the temple does not count. But you say a promise made on the temple's gold must be kept."

17Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

17"You are blind fools. Which one is greater, the gold or the temple? The temple is what makes the gold holy."

18And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

18"You also say a promise made on the altar does not count. The altar is the place where gifts were given to God. But you say a promise made on the gift must be kept."

19Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

19"You are blind. Which one is greater, the gift or the altar? The altar is what makes the gift holy."

20Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

20"So anyone who swears by the altar swears by everything on it too."

21And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

21"And anyone who swears by the temple also swears by God, who lives there."

22And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

22"And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God's throne. He swears by God, who sits on it."

23Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

23"How terrible for you, scribes and Pharisees! You are pretenders. You give God a tenth of your mint, dill, and cumin. Those are tiny garden plants used in cooking. But you skip the bigger parts of God's law. You skip being fair, being kind, and keeping your word. You should do those things and not skip the small ones either."

24Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

24"You blind guides! You strain a tiny bug out of your drink. Then you swallow a whole camel."

Note"Strain at a gnat" is an old way of saying "strain out a gnat." People poured a drink through cloth to catch tiny flies before drinking.

25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

25"How terrible for you, scribes and Pharisees! You are pretenders. You wash the outside of the cup and the dish. But inside you are full of greed. You grab whatever you want."

26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

26"Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of the cup and the dish first. Then the outside will be clean too."

27Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

27"How terrible for you, scribes and Pharisees! You are pretenders. You are like graves painted white. Outside they look lovely. Inside they are full of dead men's bones and rot."

28Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

28"You are like that too. On the outside you look good to people. On the inside you are full of pretending and wrong."

29Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

29"How terrible for you, scribes and Pharisees! You are pretenders. You build tombs for the prophets, the men who told people what God said. You decorate the graves of good people."

30And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

30"And you say, 'If we had lived back in our fathers' day, we would not have helped kill the prophets.'"

31Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

31"So you say it about yourselves. You are the children of the men who killed the prophets."

32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

32"So go ahead. Finish the wrong your fathers started."

33Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

33"You snakes! You family of poison snakes! How will you get away from being punished in hell?"

34Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

34"So listen. I am sending you prophets, wise men, and teachers. Some of them you will kill. Some you will nail to crosses. Some you will whip in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town."

35That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

35"So the blood of every good person killed on earth will come on you. It starts with good Abel. It ends with Zacharias, the son of Barachias. You killed him between the temple and the altar."

36Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

36"I tell you the truth. All these things will happen to the people living now."

37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

37"Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You throw stones at the men God sends to you. How often I wanted to gather your children close to me. I wanted to be like a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. But you would not let me."

38Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

38"Look. Your house is left empty."

39For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

39"I tell you, you will not see me again. You will see me when you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"