Matthew

Woes to Scribes and Pharisees

1Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples:

2“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

3So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

4They tie up heavy, burdensome loadsand lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.

6They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues,

7the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed.

8But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

9And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ.

11The greatest among you shall be your servant.

12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.

14Questa traduzione non include questo passaggio.

15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hellas you are.

16Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?

18And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’

19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred?

20So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it.

22And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it.

23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish,so that the outside may become clean as well.

27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.

28In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.

30And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

31So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.

32Fill up, then,the measure of the sin of your fathers.

33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

34Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.

35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

36Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

38Look, your house is left to you desolate.

39For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

1Then Jesus spake to the multitudes, and to his disciples,

2saying, 'On the seat of Moses sat down the scribes and the Pharisees;

3all, then, as much as they may say to you to observe, observe and do, but according to their works do not, for they say, and do not;

4for they bind together burdens heavy and grievous to be borne, and lay upon the shoulders of men, but with their finger they will not move them.

5'And all their works they do to be seen by men, and they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the fringes of their garments,

6they love also the chief couches in the supper, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

7and the salutations in the market-places, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

8'And ye — ye may not be called Rabbi, for one is your director — the Christ, and all ye are brethren;

9and ye may not call [any] your father on the earth, for one is your Father, who is in the heavens,

10nor may ye be called directors, for one is your director — the Christ.

11And the greater of you shall be your ministrant,

12and whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.

13'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut up the reign of the heavens before men, for ye do not go in, nor those going in do ye suffer to enter.

14'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye eat up the houses of the widows, and for a pretence make long prayers, because of this ye shall receive more abundant judgment.

15'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye go round the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever it may happen — ye make him a son of gehenna twofold more than yourselves.

16'Woe to you, blind guides, who are saying, Whoever may swear by the sanctuary, it is nothing, but whoever may swear by the gold of the sanctuary — is debtor!

17Fools and blind! for which [is] greater, the gold, or the sanctuary that is sanctifying the gold?

18'And, whoever may swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever may swear by the gift that is upon it — is debtor!

19Fools and blind! for which [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that is sanctifying the gift?

20'He therefore who did swear by the altar, doth swear by it, and by all things on it;

21and he who did swear by the sanctuary, doth swear by it, and by Him who is dwelling in it;

22and he who did swear by the heaven, doth swear by the throne of God, and by Him who is sitting upon it.

23'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye give tithe of the mint, and the dill, and the cumin, and did neglect the weightier things of the Law — the judgment, and the kindness, and the faith; these it behoved [you] to do, and those not to neglect.

24'Blind guides! who are straining out the gnat, and the camel are swallowing.

25'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye make clean the outside of the cup and the plate, and within they are full of rapine and incontinence.

26'Blind Pharisee! cleanse first the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside of them also may become clean.

27'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye are like to whitewashed sepulchres, which outwardly indeed do appear beautiful, and within are full of bones of dead men, and of all uncleanness;

28so also ye outwardly indeed do appear to men righteous, and within ye are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the righteous,

30and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31So that ye testify to yourselves, that ye are sons of them who did murder the prophets;

32and ye — ye fill up the measure of your fathers.

33'Serpents! brood of vipers! how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna?

34'Because of this, lo, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and of them ye will kill and crucify, and of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and will pursue from city to city;

35that on you may come all the righteous blood being poured out on the earth from the blood of Abel the righteous, unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar:

36verily I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.

37'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that art killing the prophets, and stoning those sent unto thee, how often did I will to gather thy children together, as a hen doth gather her own chickens under the wings, and ye did not will.

38Lo, left desolate to you is your house;

39for I say to you, ye may not see me henceforth, till ye may say, Blessed [is] he who is coming in the name of the Lord.'