| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, | 1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, |
| 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. | 2"The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. |
| 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. | 3Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. |
| 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. | 4They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. |
| 5 “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. | 5They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. |
| 6 And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. | 6They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues |
| 7 They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’ | 7and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them 'Rabbi.' |
| 8 “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. | 8But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. |
| 9 And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. | 9And call no one your 'father' on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. |
| 10 And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. | 10Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one teacher, the Christ. |
| 11 The greatest among you must be a servant. | 11The greatest among you will be your servant. |
| 12 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. | 12And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. |
| 13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either. | 13"But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in. |
| 15 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are! | 15"Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves! |
| 16 “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ | 16"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.' |
| 17 Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? | 17Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? |
| 18 And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. | 18And, 'Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.' |
| 19 How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? | 19You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? |
| 20 When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. | 20So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. |
| 21 And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. | 21And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. |
| 22 And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne. | 22And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it. |
| 23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. | 23"Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law--justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others. |
| 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! | 24Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! |
| 25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! | 25"Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. |
| 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. | 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean too! |
| 27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. | 27"Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. |
| 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. | 28In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. |
| 29 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. | 29"Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. |
| 30 Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’ | 30And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' |
| 31 “But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. | 31By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. |
| 32 Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. | 32Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! |
| 33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? | 33You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? |
| 34 “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. | 34"For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, |
| 35 As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. | 35so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. |
| 36 I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation. Jesus Grieves over Jerusalem | 36I tell you the truth, this generation will be held responsible for all these things! |
| 37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. | 37"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it! |
| 38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. | 38Look, your house is left to you desolate! |
| 39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD !’ ” | 39For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'" |
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