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Matthew · American Standard Version (1901)

Matthew 23 American Standard Version (1901)

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About ASV
  • Protestant
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • NT: Critical text
  • Protestant (66 books)
  • Formal (word for word)
  • 1901
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

1 Then spake Jesus to the multitudes and to his disciples, 2 saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat: 3 all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, [these] do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not. 4 Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. 5 But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders [of their garments], 6 and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi. 8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, [even] he who is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, [even] the Christ. 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted. 13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. 14 Not in this translation 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. 17 Ye fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that hath sanctified the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor. 19 Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel! 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous, 30 and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell? 34 Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: 35 that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Cross references (35)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Luke 20:45–46; Matthew 15:10–20; Luke 12:1; Luke 12:57; Mark 12:38–39
  2. 2 Luke 20:46; Mark 12:38; Malachi 2:7; Ezra 7:6; Ezra 7:25
  3. 3 2 Timothy 3:5; Titus 1:16; Romans 2:19–24; Acts 5:29; Romans 13:1
  4. 4 Luke 11:46; Acts 15:10; Galatians 6:13; Matthew 11:28–30; Matthew 23:23
  5. 5 Matthew 6:1–16; John 12:43; Philippians 2:3; Deuteronomy 6:8; John 5:44
  6. 6 3 John 9; Luke 11:43–54; Mark 12:38–39; Luke 14:7–11; Proverbs 25:6–7
  7. 7 John 1:38; John 1:49; John 3:2; John 6:25; John 3:26
  8. 8 James 3:1; Luke 22:32; Revelation 1:9; 1 Corinthians 1:12–13; 1 Peter 5:3
  9. 9 1 John 3:1; Hebrews 12:9; Malachi 1:6; Job 32:21–22; Romans 8:14–17
  10. 11 1 Corinthians 9:19; Galatians 5:13; John 13:14–15; Mark 10:43–44; 2 Corinthians 4:5
  11. 12 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6; Luke 14:11; Proverbs 29:23; Luke 18:14
  12. 13 Luke 11:52; Matthew 23:29; Matthew 23:23; Matthew 23:27; Zechariah 11:17
  13. 15 Acts 13:43; Acts 13:10; Ephesians 2:3; Galatians 6:12; Galatians 4:17
  14. 16 Matthew 15:14; James 5:12; Matthew 23:24; Matthew 23:17; Matthew 5:33–35
  15. 17 Matthew 23:19; Numbers 16:38–39; Psalm 94:8; Exodus 30:26–29
  16. 19 Exodus 29:37; Exodus 30:29
  17. 21 Psalm 26:8; 1 Kings 8:13; 2 Chronicles 6:2; Ephesians 2:22; Colossians 2:9
  18. 22 Matthew 5:34; Isaiah 66:1; Psalm 11:4; Revelation 4:2–3; Acts 7:49
  19. 23 Luke 11:42; Micah 6:8; Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13; Matthew 5:19–20
  20. 24 Matthew 19:24; Matthew 27:6–8; Luke 6:7–10; Matthew 15:2–6; John 18:28
  21. 25 Luke 11:39–40; Matthew 15:19–20; Isaiah 28:7–8; Mark 7:4–13
  22. 26 2 Corinthians 7:1; James 4:8; Hebrews 10:22; Ezekiel 18:31; Isaiah 55:7
  23. 27 Luke 11:44; Acts 23:3; Numbers 19:16; Isaiah 58:1–2
  24. 28 Luke 16:15; Psalm 51:6; Matthew 23:5; Matthew 12:34–35; 1 Samuel 16:7
  25. 29 Luke 11:47–48; Acts 2:29
  26. 30 Matthew 23:34–35; Jeremiah 2:30; Matthew 21:35–36; 2 Chronicles 36:15
  27. 31 Acts 7:51–52; 1 Thessalonians 2:15–16; Job 15:5–6; Joshua 24:22; Luke 19:22
  28. 32 Genesis 15:16; Numbers 32:14; 1 Thessalonians 2:16
  29. 33 Matthew 3:7; Matthew 12:34; Luke 3:7; Matthew 5:22; Genesis 3:15
  30. 34 Matthew 10:16–17; Matthew 13:52; Colossians 1:28; Luke 11:49–51; Acts 13:1
  31. 35 2 Chronicles 24:20–22; Hebrews 11:4; Zechariah 1:1; Genesis 4:8; Revelation 18:24
  32. 36 Matthew 10:23; Matthew 24:34; Luke 21:32–33; Mark 13:30–31; Ezekiel 12:21–28
  33. 37 Luke 13:34–35; Psalm 91:4; Ruth 2:12; Deuteronomy 32:11–12; Psalm 17:8
  34. 38 Jeremiah 22:5; Luke 13:35; Luke 21:24; 1 Kings 9:7; Acts 6:13–14
  35. 39 Psalm 118:26; Matthew 21:9; Romans 11:25; John 8:24; Luke 17:22

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Commentary 23:1 John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew (Homily LXXII)

    Then. When? When He had said these things, when He had stopped their mouths; when He had brought them that they should no more dare to tempt Him; when He had shown their state incurable. And since He had made mention of "the Lord" and "my Lord," He recurs again to the law.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)

  2. Quotes verse 23:9 Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies (Book IV, Preface)

    Jesus, therefore, will be to them the author and teacher of such transgression, inasmuch as He commanded that one Being should be called Father, thus imposing upon them the necessity of confessing the Creator as their Father, as has been pointed out.

    Read in context · Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885)

  3. Quotes verse 23:26 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book X, Chapters 24–25)

    Therefore, says the Lord, "Cleanse that which is within, and the outside shall be clean also." He then says that God Himself,--not anything received from Him, but Himself,--is his portion.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)

  4. Quotes verse 23:4 John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew (Homily XXIII)

    Herewith towards the end also He was upbraiding them, when He said, "Ye bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, but ye will not move them with your finger," and, "ye pay tithe of mint and anise, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith." Well then, I think that these are comprehended in …

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)

  5. Quotes verse 23:37 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture VI)

    They forgot that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten, speaks in like manner concerning Himself to Jerusalem, How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)