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23
Matthew 23:1-12
Jesus warned the people against the hypocritical behavior of the religious leaders.
1 Then Jesus said to the crowd and to us his disciples, 2 “Moses was the renowned teacher who taught the people the laws that God gave him [MTY]. Now, the Pharisees and the men who teach our Jewish laws have made themselves the ones who interpret those laws [IDM]. 3 Consequently, you should do whatever they tell you that you must do. But do not do what they do, because they themselves do not do what they tell you that you must do. 4 They require you to obey many rules that are difficult to obey. But they themselves do not help anyone obey those rules. It is as if they are tying up loads that are hard to carry and putting them on your shoulders [MET] for you to carry. But they themselves do not desire to help anyone obey those laws. They are like people who do not want to lift even the slightest load that they could lift [MET] 5 with one finger. Whatever they do, they do it to be seen by other people {so that other people will see them doing that}. For example, they make extra wide the tiny boxes containing portions of Scripture that they wear on their arms. They enlarge the tassels on their robes, to make others think that they are pious. 6 They want people to honor them. For example, at dinner parties they sit in the seats where the most important people sit. In the places of worship they want to sit in the seats where the most honored people sit. 7 Also, they want people to greet them respectfully in the market places and to honor them by calling them ‘Teacher’. 8 But you who are my disciples should not allow people to address you honorably as ‘Rabbi’, which means ‘teacher’. I am the only one who is really your teacher, which means that you are all equal, like brothers and sisters, and none of you should act superior to another, as the Pharisees do. 9 Do not honor anyone on earth by addressing him as ‘Father’, because God, your Father in heaven, is the only spiritual father of all of you. 10 Do not allow people to call you ‘Instructors’, because I, the Messiah, am the one instructor who teaches all of you. 11 In contrast, everyone among you who wants God to consider them to be important must serve others as servants do. 12 God will humble those who exalt themselves. And he will exalt those who humble themselves.”
Matthew 23:13-14
Jesus warned the religious leaders about preventing people from letting God rule their lives.
13-14 Then Jesus said to the religious leaders, “You men who teach the Jewish laws and you Pharisees are hypocrites! There will be terrible punishment for you, because by teaching what is false, you prevent people [MTY/HYP] who are thinking about letting God rule their lives from doing that [MET]. What you are doing is like closing a gate [MET] so that people who are wanting to enter a city cannot go in. As for you, you do not let God rule your lives. Neither do you allow other people to let God rule their lives. What you do is like not going into a house yourselves, and not allowing others to enter it either [MET].* very severely.””
Matthew 23:15
Jesus also warned the religious leaders about zealously encouraging others to believe what they teach.
15 “You are hypocrites, you men who teach the Jewish laws and you Pharisees! Your punishment will be terrible, because you exert yourselves very much to get even one person to believe what you teach. For instance, you travel across seas and lands to distant places in order to do that. And as a result, when one person believes what you teach, you make that person much more deserving to go to hell than you yourselves deserve to.”
Matthew 23:16-22
Jesus rebuked the religious leaders about their silly ideas about supporting their promises with oaths.
16 “You Jewish leaders, your punishment will be terrible! You are like people who are blind [MET] who are trying to lead others. You say, ‘ In the case of those who promise to do something and then ask the Temple to affirm what they have promised, it means nothing if they do not do what they have promised. But if they ask the gold that is in the Temple to affirm what they have promised, they must do what they promised.’ 17 You are fools, and you are like people who are blind [MET]! The gold that is in the Temple is important, but the Temple is even more important [RHQ], because it is the Temple that the gold is in that sets the gold apart for a special use for God. 18 Also you say, ‘In the case of those who promise to do something and then ask the altar to affirm what they have promised, it means nothing if they do not do what they have promised. But if they ask the gift that they have put on the altar to support what they have promised, they must do what they promised.’ 19 You are like people who are blind [MET]. The gift that is offered on the altar is important, but the altar is even more important [RHQ] because it is the altar on which the offering is offered that sets it apart for a special use for God. 20 So, those who promise to do something, and then ask the altar to affirm what they have promised are asking everything on the altar to support what they promised. 21 Those who promise to do something, and then ask the Temple to affirm what they promised, are asking that God, to whom the Temple belongs, will affirm what they have promised. 22 Those who promise to do something and then ask heaven to affirm what they promised are asking the throne of God and God, who sits on that throne, to affirm what they promised.”
Matthew 23:23-24
Jesus also rebuked the religious leaders about paying attention to unimportant laws and at the same time ignoring important ones.
23 “You men who teach the Jewish laws and you Pharisees, your punishment will be terrible! You are hypocrites because, even though you give to God a tenth of the herbs you produce, such as mint, dill, and cummin, you do not obey God's laws that are more important. For example, you do not act justly toward others, you do not act mercifully toward people, and you are not trustworthy. It is good to give a tenth of your herbs to God, but you should also obey these other more important laws. 24 You leaders are like blind people who are trying to lead others. According to your laws you say that touching gnats and camels makes you unacceptable to God. What you are doing is like straining a gnat out of a jar of water so that you do not swallow it and thereby become unacceptable to God, and at the same time swallowing a camel with the water [MET]!”
Matthew 23:25-26
Jesus also rebuked the religious leaders about being greedy and selfish.
25 “You men who teach people the Jewish laws and you Pharisees, your punishment will be terrible! You are hypocrites! You are greedy and selfish, but you make yourselves appear holy. You are like cups and plates that have been cleaned on the outside, but on the inside they are very filthy. 26 You blind Pharisees! First you must stop being greedy and selfish. Then you will be able to do what is righteous. That will be like cleaning the inside of a cup first. Then when you clean [MET] the outside of the cup, the cup will truly be clean.”
Matthew 23:27-28
Jesus rebuked the religious leaders for being hypocrites and pretending to be righteous.
27 “You men who teach the Jewish laws and you Pharisees, your punishment will be terrible! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs [SIM] that are painted white so that people can see them and avoid touching them. The outside surfaces are beautiful, but inside they are full of dead people's bones and filth. 28 You are like those tombs. When people look at you, they think that you are righteous, but in your ◄inner beings/hearts► you are hypocrites and you disobey God's commands.”
Matthew 23:29-36
Jesus accused the religious leaders of being guilty of killing all the prophets.
29 “You men who teach the Jewish laws and you Pharisees are hypocrites! Your punishment will be terrible! You rebuild the tombs of the prophets whom others killed long ago. You decorate the monuments that honor righteous people. 30 You say, ‘If we had lived when our ancestors [MET] lived, we would not have helped [MET] those who killed [MTY] the prophets.’ 31 Thus you recognize that you should honor the prophets, but you disregard the word of God that other men whom God has sent teach you. In that way you testify against yourselves that you are descendants and disciples [MET] of those who killed the prophets. 32 You are as ready to murder people as [MET] your ancestors were! 33 You people are so wicked! You are as dangerous as poisonous snakes [DOU, MET]! ◄You foolishly think that you will escape being punished in hell!/Do you foolishly think that you will escape when God punishes wicked people in hell?► [RHQ] 34 Take note that this is why I will send prophets, wise men, and other men who will teach you my message. You will kill some of them by nailing them to crosses, and you will kill some in other ways. You will whip some of them in the places where you worship and you will chase them from city to city. 35 As a result, God will consider that you are guilty for killing [SYN] all the righteous people, including killing [MTY] Adam's son Abel, who was a righteous man [SYN], and Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, whom you are guilty of killing in the holy place between the Temple and the altar, and for killing all the prophets who lived between the times that those two men lived. 36 Think about this: You people who have observed my ministry, it is you whom God will punish for killing all those prophets!”
Matthew 23:37-39
Jesus expressed his sorrow about what would happen to Jerusalem.
37 “O people of Jerusalem [MTY, APO], you killed the prophets who lived long ago, and you killed others whom God sent to you. You killed them by throwing stones at them [DOU]! Many times I wanted to gather you together to protect you, like a hen gathers her young chicks under her wings [MET]. But you did not want me to do that. 38 So listen to this: Your city [SYN] will become an uninhabited place. 39 Keep this in mind: You will see me again only when I return, and you say about me, ‘ God is truly pleased with this man who comes with God's authority [MTY].’ ”

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*23:13-14 very severely.”

Note: The Old Testament in this translation is still being worked on, and is in draft form. Updates will be posted at eBible.org/t4t/.

© 2008-2017 Ellis W. Deibler, Jr.