1 Then Yeshua addressed the crowds and histalmidim:
2 “TheTorah-teachers and theP’rushim,” he said, “sit in the seat of Moshe.
3 So whatever they tell you, take care to do it. But don’t do what they do, because they talk but don’t act!
4 They tie heavy loads onto people’s shoulders but won’t lift a finger to help carry them.
5 Everything they do is done to be seen by others; for they make theirt’fillinbroad and theirtzitziyotlong,
6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues,
7 and they love being greeted deferentially in the marketplaces and being called ‘Rabbi.’
8 “But you are not to let yourselves be called ‘Rabbi’; because you have one Rabbi, and you are all each other’s brothers.
9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘Father.’ because you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
10 Nor are you to let yourselves be called ‘leaders,’ because you have one Leader, and he is the Messiah!
11 The greatest among you must be your servant,
12 for whoever promotes himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be promoted.
13 “But woe to you hypocriticalTorah-teachers andP’rushim! For you are shutting the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces, neither entering yourselves nor allowing those who wish to enter to do so.
14
15 “Woe to you hypocriticalTorah-teachers andP’rushim! You go about over land and sea to make one proselyte; and when you succeed, you make him twice as fit for Gei-Hinnom as you are!
16 “Woe to you, you blind guides! You say, ‘If someone swears by the Temple, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.’
17 You blind fools! Which is more important? the gold? or the Temple which makes the gold holy?
18 And you say, ‘If someone swears by the altar, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the offering on the altar, he is bound.’
19 Blind men! Which is more important? the sacrifice? or the altar which makes the sacrifice holy?
20 So someone who swears by the altar swears by it and everything on it.
21 And someone who swears by the Temple swears by it and the One who lives in it.
22 And someone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and the One who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you hypocriticalTorah-teachers andP’rushim! You pay your tithes of mint, dill and cumin; but you have neglected the weightier matters of theTorah— justice, mercy, trust. These are the things you should have attended to — without neglecting the others!
24 Blind guides! — straining out a gnat, meanwhile swallowing a camel!
25 “Woe to you hypocriticalTorah-teachers andP’rushim! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
26 BlindParush! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may be clean too.
27 “Woe to you hypocriticalTorah-teachers andP’rushim! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of rottenness.
28 Likewise, you appear to people from the outside to be good and honest, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and far fromTorah.
29 “Woe to you hypocriticalTorah-teachers andP’rushim! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of thetzaddikim,
30 and you say, ‘Had we lived when our fathers did, we would never have taken part in killing the prophets.’
31 In this you testify against yourselves that you are worthy descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Go ahead then, finish what your fathers started!
33 “You snakes! Sons of snakes! How can you escape being condemned to Gei-Hinnom?
34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages andTorah-teachers — some of them you will kill, indeed, you will have them executed on stakes as criminals; some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.
35 And so, on you will fall the guilt for all the innocent blood that has ever been shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Hevel to the blood of Z’kharyah Ben-Berekhyah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar.
36 Yes! I tell you that all this will fall on this generation!
37 “Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused!
38 Look! God is abandoning your house to you, leaving it desolate.
39 For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name ofAdonai.’”