1Then יהושע spoke to the crowds and to His taught ones,

2saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Mosheh.

3“Therefore, whatever they say to you to guard, guard and do. But do not do according to their works, for they say, and do not do.

4“For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but with their finger they do not wish to move them.

5“And they do all their works to be seen by men, and they make their t’fillen wide and lengthen the tzitziyota of their garments,

6and they love the best place at feasts, and the best seats in the congregations,

7and the greetings in the market-places, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’

8“But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi,’ for One is your Teacher, the Messiah, and you are all brothers.

9“And do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He who is in the heavens.

10“Neither be called leaders, for One is your Leader, the Messiah.

11“But the greatest among you shall be your servant.

12“And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the reign of the heavens before men, for you do not go in, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

14“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you eat up widows’ houses, and for a show make long prayers. Because of this you shall receive greater judgment.

15“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you go about the land and the sea to win one convert, and when he is won, you make him a son of Gehenna twofold more than yourselves.

16“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the Dwelling Place, it does not matter, but whoever swears by the gold of the Dwelling Place, is bound by oath.’

17“Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the Dwelling Place that sets the gold apart?

18“And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it does not matter, but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, is bound by oath.’

19“Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sets the gift apart?

20“He, then, who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all that is upon it.

21“And he who swears by the Dwelling Place, swears by it and by Him who is dwelling in it.

22“And he who swears by the heaven, swears by the throne of Elohim and by Him who is sitting upon it.

23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you tithe the mint and the anise and the cumin,a and have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah: the right-ruling and the compassion and the belief. These need to have been done, without neglecting the others.

24“Blind guides – straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are filled with plunder and unrighteousness.

26“Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside of them becomes clean too.

27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly indeed look well, but inside are filled with dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

28“So you too outwardly indeed appear righteous to men, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.a

29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,

30and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in the blood of the prophets.’

31“Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who did murder the prophets –

32and you fill up the measure of your fathers!

33“Serpents, brood of adders! How would you escape the judgment of Gehenna?

34“Because of this, see, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scholars of Scripture.a Some of them you shall kill and impale, and some of them you shall flog in your congregations and persecute from city to city,

35so that on you should come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Heḇel to the blood of Zeḵaryah, son of Bereḵyah, whom you murdered between the Dwelling Place and the altar.

36“Truly, I say to you, all this shall come upon this generation.

37“Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her! How often I wished to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you would not!

38“See! Your house is left to you laid waste,

39for I say to you, from now on you shall by no means see Me, until you say, ‘Blessed is He who is coming in the Name of יהוה!’ ”a