Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers

Luke 11

37 While Jesus 1 was speaking, h a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see i that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, j "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of k greed and wickedness. 40 l You fools! j Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But m give as alms those things that are within, and behold, n everything is clean for you.

42 o "But woe to you Pharisees! For p you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect q justice and r the love of God. s These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For t you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! u For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it."

45 One of v the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also." 46 And he said, "Woe to you w lawyers also! For x you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 y Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 z So you are witnesses and you a consent to the deeds of b your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also c the Wisdom of God said, d 'I will send them e prophets and apostles, f some of whom they will g kill and persecute,' 50 so that h the blood of all the prophets, shed i from the foundation of the world, may be j charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of k Abel to the blood of l Zechariah, who perished between m the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be j required of this generation. 52 Woe to you n lawyers! o For you have taken away the key of p knowledge. You q did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering."

53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 r lying in wait for him, s to catch him in something he might say.

  1. Cross References
    Luke 7:36
    One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table.
    Luke 14:1
    One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.
  2. Cross References
    Matthew 15:2
    "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat."
    Mark 7:3 - 4
    (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders.
  3. Cross References
    Matthew 23:25 - 26
    Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
    Luke 20:47
    Who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.
  4. Cross References
    Luke 16:14
    The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.
  5. Cross References
    Luke 12:20
    But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?
  6. Cross References
    Luke 11:39
    And the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
  7. Cross References
    Luke 12:33
    Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
    Luke 16:9
    And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
    Daniel 4:27
    Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.
  8. Cross References
    Titus 1:15
    To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
  9. Cross References
    Matthew 23:23
    Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
  10. Cross References
    Luke 18:12
    I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.
    Deuteronomy 14:22
    You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year.
  11. Cross References
    Psalms 33:5
    He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
    Jeremiah 5:1
    Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her.
    Micah 6:8
    He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
    Zechariah 7:9
    Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another.
  12. Cross References
    1 John 3:17
    But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
  13. Cross References
    1 Samuel 15:22
    And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
  14. Cross References
    Luke 20:46
    Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts.
    Matthew 23:6 - 7
    And they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
    Mark 12:38 - 39
    And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces
    Luke 14:7
    Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them.
  15. Cross References
    Matthew 23:27
    Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.
  16. Cross References
    Luke 11:46
    And he said, "Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
    Luke 11:52
    Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.
    Luke 7:30
    But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
  17. Cross References
    Luke 11:45
    One of the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.
    Luke 11:52
    Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.
  18. Cross References
    Matthew 23:4
    They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
    Matthew 11:28 - 30
    Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
    Acts 15:10
    Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
  19. Cross References
    Matthew 23:29 - 30
    Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.
  20. Cross References
    Matthew 23:31
    Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
  21. Cross References
    Romans 1:32
    Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
  22. Cross References
    Acts 7:51 - 52
    You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
  23. Cross References
    Luke 7:35
    Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.
    Proverbs 8:12
    I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find know...
    Proverbs 8:22 - 23
    The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his w...
    Proverbs 8:30
    Then I was beside him, like a master workman, a...
    Matthew 11:19
    The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and th...
    1 Corinthians 1:24
    But to those who are called, both Jews and Gree...
    1 Corinthians 1:30
    And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who...
    Colossians 2:3
    In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom ...
  24. Cross References
    Luke 11:49 - 51
    Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute.
    Matthew 23:34 - 36
    Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.
  25. Cross References
    Acts 13:1
    Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
    1 Corinthians 12:28
    And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
  26. Cross References
    Matthew 21:35
    And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
  27. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 2:15
    Who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind
  28. Cross References
    Revelation 18:24
    And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.
  29. Cross References
    Matthew 13:35
    This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.
  30. Cross References
    Genesis 42:22
    And Reuben answered them, "Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.
    2 Chronicles 24:22
    Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, "May the Lord see and avenge!
    Ezekiel 3:18
    If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
  31. Cross References
    Genesis 4:4
    And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering.
    Genesis 4:8
    Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
    Hebrews 11:4
    By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
    1 John 3:12
    We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.
  32. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 24:20 - 21
    Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God, 'Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.'
  33. Cross References
    Exodus 40:6
    You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.
    2 Kings 16:14
    And the bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar.
    Ezekiel 40:47
    And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits broad, a square. And the altar was in front of the temple.
  34. Cross References
    Luke 11:50
    So that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation.
  35. Cross References
    Luke 11:45 - 46
    One of the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.
  36. Cross References
    Matthew 23:13
    But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
    Malachi 2:7 - 8
    For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
  37. Cross References
    Romans 2:20
    An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth -
  38. Cross References
    Luke 7:30
    But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
    Matthew 5:20
    For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
    Matthew 21:31
    Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
  39. Cross References
    Luke 20:20
    So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
    Mark 3:2
    And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.
    John 8:6
    This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
    Isaiah 29:21
    Who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.
  40. Cross References
    Matthew 22:15
    Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words.
    Mark 12:13
    And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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