Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
"The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the Scriptures.
So practice and obey whatever they say to you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach.
They crush you with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to help ease the burden.
"Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear extra long tassels on their robes.
And how they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the most prominent seats in the synagogue!
They enjoy the attention they get on the streets, and they enjoy being called 'Rabbi.'
Don't ever let anyone call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are on the same level as brothers and sisters.
And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father.
And don't let anyone call you 'Master,' for there is only one master, the Messiah.
The greatest among you must be a servant.
But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
"How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you won't let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and you won't go in yourselves.
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Yes, how terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn him into twice the son of hell as you yourselves are.
"Blind guides! How terrible it will be for you! For you say that it means nothing to swear 'by God's Temple'--you can break that oath. But then you say that it is binding to swear 'by the gold in the Temple.'
Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold, or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?
And you say that to take an oath 'by the altar' can be broken, but to swear 'by the gifts on the altar' is binding!
How blind! For which is greater, the gift on the altar, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
When you swear 'by the altar,' you are swearing by it and by everything on it.
And when you swear 'by the Temple,' you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it.
And when you swear 'by heaven,' you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.
"How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law--justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things.
Blind guides! You strain your water so you won't accidentally swallow a gnat; then you swallow a camel!
"How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy--full of greed and self-indulgence!
Blind Pharisees! First wash the inside of the cup, and then the outside will become clean, too.
"How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs--beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity.
You try to look like upright people outwardly, but inside your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
"How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed and decorate the graves of the godly people your ancestors destroyed.
Then you say, 'We never would have joined them in killing the prophets.'
"In saying that, you are accusing yourselves of being the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
Go ahead. Finish what they started.
Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?
I will send you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. You will kill some by crucifixion and whip others in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.
As a result, you will become guilty of murdering all the godly people from righteous Abel to Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered in the Temple between the altar and the sanctuary.
I assure you, all the accumulated judgment of the centuries will break upon the heads of this very generation.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.
And now look, your house is left to you, empty and desolate.
For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, 'Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"