Matthew 23

₂‘The teachers_of_the_Laws and Pharisees know the laws of Moses very well. ₃You must listen to them and do everything they teach you, but you must not do what they do, because they say you must do these things, but they don't do it themselves. ₄They want people to do all the things that the laws say, but they make them suffer like people who must carry things that are too heavy on their shoulders. But the teachers_of_the_Laws and Pharisees do not help the people. ₅They do everything so that people can see them and think they are good. They make big prayer-boxes and long tassels on their clothes. ₆They like to go to the feasts and to the synagogues and sit where everyone can see them. ₇They want everyone to greet them in town where people come together and they love it when the people say they are teachers.

₈Do not let people say you are their teacher, because we have only one Teacher, and that is the Lord, and you are all brothers and sisters. ₉Do not say to a person here on earth that he is your father, because there is only one Person who is your Father and He is your Father in heaven. ₁₀Do not let people say you are their leader, because only Christ is your Leader. ₁₁The person who wants to be the most important must be a servant of the other people. ₁₂If any person thinks he is important, then God will show everyone that he is not important. And if any person thinks he is unimportant, God will make him important.

_13-14You, Pharisees and teachers_of_the_Laws, you are hypocrites. You will suffer because you stop the people who want to go to God in heaven who rules over all. You do not go to God and you stop other people who want to go to Him.

₁₅You, Pharisees and teachers_of_the_Laws, you are hypocrites. You will suffer. You go all over the world and the sea to get one person to follow you and when you get a follower, you make him worse than yourselves and he will go to hell.

₁₆You will suffer. You are like blind people who want to show other blind people where they must go. You say: “If someone promises something and he says the temple is his witness, then he does not have to do what he promises. But if he promises something and he says the gold in the temple is his witness, then he must do what he promises.” ₁₇You are blind fools. What is the most important, the gold or the temple? It is the temple that makes the gold holy.

₁₈And you say: “If someone promises something and he says the altar is his witness, then he does not have to do what he promises. But if he promises something and he says the offering to God on the altar is his witness, then he must do what he promises.” ₁₉You are blind. What is more important, the offering on the altar, or the altar that makes the offering holy? ₂₀Anyone who promises something, and says the altar is his witness, promises and says that the altar as well as everything on the altar is his witness. ₂₁And anyone who promises something, and says the temple is his witness, promises and says the temple as well as God who lives in the temple is his witness. ₂₂And anyone who promises something, and says the heaven is his witness, promises and says the throne of God as well as God who sits on the throne is his witness.

₂₃You, Pharisees and teachers_of_the_Laws, you are hypocrites. You will suffer, because you give one 10th of everything that you get to God, also of all the different spices that you get, but you don't do the most important things that the laws of God ask you to do. These are important things like doing good things to other people, feeling sorry for them and doing what you have promised. You must do this, but don't stop doing the other things like giving 10ths. ₂₄You are blind leaders who want to show other blind people where they must go. You are worried about small things, but you don't care about the big things that you do wrong. Yes, you pour your water through a piece of cloth to take out a small fly, but you don't see that you are eating a big camel.

₂₅You, Pharisees and teachers_of_the_Laws, you are hypocrites. You will suffer. You wash the outside of your cups and plates, but you take everything that was in the cups and on the plates of poor people because you think only of yourselves. ₂₆You blind Pharisees, you must first wash the inside of the cup, then the outside will also be clean.

₂₇You, Pharisees and teachers_of_the_Laws, you are hypocrites. You will suffer. You are like tombs that people have painted white. The outside looks good and nice, but inside it is full of the bones of dead people and other things that are impure. ₂₈When people look at you, you show them that you do what the laws of God say, but in your heart you are hypocrites and you do not live like the laws of God say.

₂₉You, Pharisees and teachers_of_the_Laws, you are hypocrites. You will suffer. You build tombs for the prophets and you build beautiful memorials for the people who did what the laws of God say. ₃₀You say: “If we had lived in the time when our forefathers lived, we would not have helped them to kill the prophets.” ₃₁But when you say that, then you say and you agree that you are the children and descendants of the people who killed the prophets. ₃₂Yes, I know you will keep on doing what your forefathers did. ₃₃You are like snakes, like the children of dangerous snakes. Do you think you can run away from God? No, He will punish you in hell.

₃₄I am sure: If I send prophets and wise men and teachers to you, you will kill them and crucify them and beat them with whips in your synagogues and you will chase them away from every town and make them suffer. ₃₅I will send them to you so that God may punish you for all the innocent people that you have killed. You started by killing Abel who was innocent. You killed him and you have continued to kill innocent people until you also killed Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. You killed him between the temple and the altar. ₃₆I say this to you who are living now and this is sure: God will punish you for all these things.’

‘People of Jerusalem, you have killed the prophets, and you have killed the messengers, that God sent to you, with stones. People of Jerusalem, I have often wanted to bring you together like a hen takes her chicks under her wings, but you did not want to come to Me. ₃₈Now you must listen carefully: There is not one person in Jerusalem who will keep on living. ₃₉I tell you: You will not see Me again until that day when you will say: