Matthew 23:17-39
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?And,‘ Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.“ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!“ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.“ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.“ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,and say,‘ If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’“ Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.“ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are 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!See! Your house is left to you desolate;for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say,‘ Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
