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The Blue Letter Bible

Matthew 23 :: New International Version (NIV)

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A Warning Against Hypocrisy

(Mar 12:38–40; Luk 20:45–47 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:1

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:1 - Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:2

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:2 - “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:3

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:3 - So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:4

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:4 - They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:5

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:5 - “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[fn] wide and the tassels on their garments long;

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:6

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:6 - they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:7

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:7 - they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:8

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:8 - “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:9

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:9 - And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:10

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:10 - Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:11

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:11 - The greatest among you will be your servant.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:12

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:12 - For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:13

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:13 - “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:15

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:15 - “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:16

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:16 - “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:17

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:17 - You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:18

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:18 - You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:19

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:19 - You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:20

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:20 - Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:21

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:21 - And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:22

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:22 - And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:23

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:23 - “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:24

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:24 - You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:25

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:25 - “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:26

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:26 - Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:27

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:27 - “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:28

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:28 - In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:29

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:29 - “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:30

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:30 - And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:31

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:31 - So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:32

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:32 - Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:33

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:33 - “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:34

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:34 - Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:35

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:35 - And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:36

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:36 - Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
(Luk 13:34, 35 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:37

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:37 - “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:38

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:38 - Look, your house is left to you desolate.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 23:39

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 23:39 - For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[fn]”
See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NIV Footnotes
That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm
Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.
Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.
Psalm 118:26
BLB Footnotes
Some Greek manuscripts exclude this verse. The NIV related footnote for 23:13 states:
Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.  
NIV

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Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.


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For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.

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Matthew Chapter 23 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Morphological Greek New Testament Textus Receptus Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras