1 Then Jesus {Iesous: Authoritative Teacher} said to the crowds {ochlois: gathered people} and to His disciples:
2 Saying, “The scribes {grammateis: law interpreters} and the Pharisees have seated themselves on the seat of Moses {Mōuseōs: lawgiving authority}.”
3 Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and observe {tereo: carefully keep}; but do not do according to their deeds {erga: outward behavior}, for they say and do not do.
4 For they bind heavy burdens {phortia: oppressive obligations}, difficult to carry, and place them on the shoulders of men, but they themselves are not willing to lift them, even with their finger {daktulos: minimal effort}.
5 But all their works they do to be seen by people; for they make their phylacteries {phylakteria: scripture boxes} broad and enlarge the borders {kraspeda: law-required fringes} of their garments.
6 But they love the place of honor {protoklisia: seat of prominence} at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues {synagoge: Jewish assembly},
7 And the greetings in the marketplaces {agorais: public squares}, and to be called Rabbi by the people {anthropon: wider society}.
8 But you, do not be called Rabbi {rhabbi: honored title}, for One is your Teacher {didaskalos: supreme instructor}, and all of you are brothers.
9 And do not call anyone on the earth your Father {Pater, Unique Heavenly Source}, for One is your Father, the One in the heavens {ouranios: celestial realm}.
10 Do not be called guides {kathegetai: human guides}, for your Guide is One, the Christ {Christos, Unique Anointed Teacher}.
11 But the one who is greater {meizon: higher in rank} among you will be your servant {diakonos: humble attendant}.
12 But whoever will exalt himself will be humbled {tapeinoo: brought low in status}, and whoever will humble himself will be exalted {hupsoo: raised to honor}.
13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you close the kingdom {basileian: divine reign} of heaven in front of people {anthropon: ordinary humans}; for you yourselves do not enter, and you do not allow those who are entering to enter.
14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ {cheron: vulnerable women} houses and for a pretense pray long prayers; therefore you will receive greater judgment {krima: divine verdict}.
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you travel across sea and land to make one proselyte {proselytos: non-Jewish convert}, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna {geennes: realm of final judgment} as yourselves.
16 Woe to you, blind guides {hodegos: teacher or leader}, who say, “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated {opheilei: under debt}.”
17 Fools and blind ones, for which is greater—the gold or the temple {naos: sacred dwelling} that sanctified the gold {chrysos: precious metal}?
18 And whoever swears by the altar {thysiasterion: altar for sacrifice}, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is obligated {opheilei: bound to fulfill}.
19 Blind ones, which is greater, the gift {doron: sacrificial offering} or the altar {thysiasterion: temple platform} that sanctifies the gift?
20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar {thysiasterio: sacrificial place} swears by it and by all the things that are on it {pasi: every object}.
21 And the one who swears by the temple {naos: sacred building} swears by it and by the one who dwells {katoikeo: lives permanently} in it.
22 And the one who swears by heaven {ouranos: highest heaven} swears by the throne of God {Theos, Ultimate Witness}, and by Him who sits upon it.
23 Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you meticulously tithe {apodekatoute: give a tenth} mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have set aside the law’s more weighty demands—justice {krisin: righteous judgment}, mercy, and faith. These you were obligated to perform, and you may not neglect the others.
24 Blind guides {hodegoi: misleading leaders}, you strain out the gnat but you swallow the camel {kamelon: large unclean animal}.
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of greed {arpage: violent seizure} and self-indulgence {akrasia: lack of restraint}.
26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside {entos: inner life} of the cup and the dish, so that the outside of them also may be clean {katharos: ritually pure}.
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you are like whitewashed {kekoniamenois: outwardly coated} tombs which, on the outside, indeed appear beautiful, but inside they are full of bones of dead men and all uncleanness {akatharsia: ritual moral pollution}.
28 In the same way, you also appear outwardly righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy {hypokriseos: religious pretense} and lawlessness {anomias: rebellion against God}.
29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets {propheton: God-sent spokesmen} and adorn the monuments of the righteous {dikaion: morally upright ones}.
30 And you say, “If we had been in the days of our fathers {pateron: previous generations}, we would not have been partners with them in the blood {haima: violent killing} of the prophets.”
31 Therefore you testify against yourselves that you are sons {huioi: true descendants} of those who killed the prophets {prophetas: God’s inspired messengers}.
32 And you {hymeis: directly addressed}—fill up, then, the measure of your fathers {pateron: earlier generations}.
33 Serpents {opheis: deadly deceivers}, offspring {gennemata: corrupt brood} of vipers, how will you escape from the judgment of hell?
34 Therefore, behold, I {Iesous, Righteous Sender} send to you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city{polin: urban centers}.
35 So that upon you may come all the righteous blood that has been poured out upon the earth {ge: inhabited land}, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah {Zacharias: slain witness}, son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 Truly {amen: solemn assurance} I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation {genea: contemporary audience}.
37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets {prophētas: covenant messengers} and stoning those who have been sent to her, how often I {Iesous, Compassionate Gatherer} wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
38 Behold, your house {oikos: covenant dwelling} is left to you desolate {erēmos: utterly abandoned}.
39 For I say to you, you will certainly not see Me from now until you say, “Blessed {eulogemenos: honored by God} is He who comes in the name of the Lord {Kyrios, Covenant Lord of Israel}.”