Matthew 23:23-39

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.

29 s "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are t sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 u Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, v you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to w hell? 34 x Therefore y I send you z prophets and wise men and a scribes, b some of whom you will kill and crucify, and b some you will c flog in your synagogues and d persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all e the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent f Abel to the blood of g Zechariah the son of Barachiah, 1 whom you murdered between h the sanctuary and i the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, j all these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

37 k "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that l kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have m gathered n your children together o as a hen gathers her brood p under her wings, and q you would not! 38 See, r your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, s 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

  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.
  17. Cross References
    Luke 11:47 - 48
    Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.
  18. 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.
  19. Cross References
    Genesis 15:16
    And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
    Daniel 8:23
    And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise.
    1 Thessalonians 2:15 - 16
    Who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind
  20. Cross References
    Matthew 3:7
    But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
    Matthew 12:34
    You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
  21. Cross References
    Matthew 23:15
    Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
  22. Cross References
    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.
    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.
  23. Cross References
    Matthew 10:16
    Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
  24. 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.
  25. Cross References
    Matthew 13:52
    And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.
  26. Cross References
    Matthew 21:35
    And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
  27. Cross References
    Matthew 21:35
    And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
  28. Cross References
    Matthew 10:17
    Beware of men, for they will deliver you over t...
    Mark 13:9
    But be on your guard. For they will deliver you...
    Luke 21:12
    But before all this they will lay their hands o...
    Acts 22:19
    And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in...
    Acts 26:11
    And I punished them often in all the synagogues...
    Luke 12:11
    And when they bring you before the synagogues a...
  29. Cross References
    Matthew 10:23
    When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
  30. 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.
  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
    Zechariah 1:1
    In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying.
  33. Cross References
    Luke 1:9
    According to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
  34. 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.
  35. Cross References
    Matthew 10:23
    When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
    Matthew 16:28
    Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
    Matthew 24:34
    Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
  36. Cross References
    Matthew 23:37 - 39
    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
    Luke 13:34 - 35
    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
    Luke 19:41 - 44
    And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it.
  37. Cross References
    Matthew 21:35
    And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
  38. Cross References
    Psalms 147:2
    The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
    Proverbs 1:24
    Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded.
  39. Cross References
    Luke 23:28
    But turning to them Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
  40. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:11 - 12
    Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions.
  41. Cross References
    Ruth 2:12
    The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!
  42. Cross References
    John 5:40
    Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
  43. Cross References
    Matthew 23:37 - 39
    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
    Luke 13:34 - 35
    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
  44. Cross References
    Isaiah 64:11
    Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
    Jeremiah 12:7
    I have forsaken my house; I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies.
    Jeremiah 22:5
    But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.
  45. Cross References
    Matthew 21:9
    And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!
    Psalms 118:26
    Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
  46. Cross References
    Psalms 118:26
    Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.