Matthew 23:23-28

Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

23 d "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For e you tithe mint and dill and f cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: g justice and mercy and faithfulness. h These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing i a camel!

25 j "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For k you clean the outside of l the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of m greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of l the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

27 n "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like o whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and p all uncleanness. 28 So you also q outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of r hypocrisy and lawlessness.

  1. Cross References
    Luke 11:42
    But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
  2. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 14:22
    You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year.
    Luke 18:12
    I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 28:25
    When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border?
    Isaiah 28:27
    Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin, but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Cross References
    Matthew 19:24
    Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
  7. Cross References
    Matthew 23:25 - 28
    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.
    Matthew 15:11 - 20
    It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.
  8. Cross References
    Luke 11:39 - 40
    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.
  9. Cross References
    Mark 7:4
    And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)
  10. Cross References
    Luke 16:14
    The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.
    Luke 20:47
    Who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.
  11. Cross References
    Matthew 23:25
    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.
  12. Cross References
    Luke 11:44
    Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.
  13. Cross References
    Acts 23:3
    Then Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?
  14. Cross References
    Ephesians 5:3
    But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
    Numbers 19:16
    Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
    2 Kings 23:16
    And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things.
  15. Cross References
    Matthew 23:5
    They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.
  16. Cross References
    Luke 12:1
    In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.