Matthew 23 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples:
1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,
2 “The religious teachers and the Pharisees are responsible as interpreters of the law of Moses,
2 saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat.
3 so obey them and do everything they tell you. But don't follow what they do, because they don't practice what they preach.
3 All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do.
4 They tie up heavy burdens, and place them on people's shoulders, but they themselves don't lift a finger to help them.
4 For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.
5 Everything they do is to make sure they get noticed. They make themselves large prayer boxes to wear and long tassels on their clothes.
5 But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the fringes of their garments,
6 They love to have the places of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues.
6 and love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7 They love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and for people to call them, ‘Rabbi.’
7 the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ by men.
8 Don't let people call you ‘Rabbi.’ Only one is your Master Teacher, and you are all brothers.
8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers.
9 Don't call anyone by the title ‘Father’ here on earth. Only one is your Father, who is in heaven.
9 Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.
10 Don't let people call you ‘Teacher.’ Only one is your Teacher, the Messiah.
10 Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Christ.
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
11 But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.
12 Those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great.
12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 But what a disaster is coming on you religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You slam shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves don't go in, yet you don't let anyone in who is trying to enter.
13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
14 Not in this translation
14 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter.
15 What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when you do, you make him twice a son of Gehenna as you are yourselves.
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
16 What a disaster is coming on those of you who say, ‘If you swear by the Temple that doesn't count, but if you swear by the gold of the Temple, then you have to keep your oath.’ What blind guides you are!
16 “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’
17 What is greater—the gold, or the Temple that makes the gold holy?
17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
18 You say, ‘If you swear on the altar that doesn't count, but if you swear on the sacrifice that's on the altar, then you have to keep your oath.’
18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated.’
19 How foolish and blind you are! What is greater—the sacrifice, or the altar that makes the sacrifice holy?
19 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
20 If you swear by the altar, you swear by it and by everything that's on it.
20 He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it.
21 If you swear by the Temple you swear by it and by the one who lives there.
21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who has been living in it.
22 If you swear by heaven you swear by the throne of God and the one who sits there.
22 He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it.
23 What a disaster is coming on you religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay a tithe of mint, aniseed, and cumin, but you neglect the vital aspects of the law—doing good, showing mercy, exercising trust. Yes, you should pay your tithe, but don't forget these other things.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
24 You blind guides—you strain what you drink to keep out a fly but then you swallow a camel!
24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!
25 What a disaster is coming on you religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you're full of greed and self-indulgence.
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.
26 You blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, so that the outside will also be clean.
26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.
27 What a disaster is coming on you religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, looking good on the outside, but on the inside full of skeletons and all kinds of rottenness.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.
28 You're just the same. On the outside you look like good people to others, but on the inside you're full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 What a disaster is coming on you religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs as memorials to the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the good,
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous,
30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the times of our ancestors we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
31 But by saying this you testify against yourselves, proving that you belong to those who murdered the prophets!
31 Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets.
32 So get on with it—finish it all off using your forefathers' methods!
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
33 You snakes, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
34 That's why I'm sending you prophets, wise men, and teachers. Some of them you will kill, some of them you will crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, hunting them from town to town.
34 Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, 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,
35 As a result, you will be held accountable for the blood of all the good people that has been poured out on the land—from the blood of Abel, who did what was right, to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the Temple and the altar.
35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
36 I'm telling you, the consequences of all this will fall on this generation.
36 Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! So often I wanted to gather your children as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings—but you wouldn't let me.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
38 Now look—your house is left abandoned, totally empty.
38 Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
39 I tell you this: you won't see me from now on until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Zechariah
Named by Jesus as the last of the righteous whose blood was shed, 'son of Berechiah', whom they killed between the temple and the altar. Matthew 23:35 calls him 'son of…
Cited in the guide: Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51
Cross references (35)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Luke 20:45–46; Matthew 15:10–20; Luke 12:1; Luke 12:57; Mark 12:38–39
- 2 Luke 20:46; Mark 12:38; Malachi 2:7; Ezra 7:6; Ezra 7:25
- 3 2 Timothy 3:5; Titus 1:16; Romans 2:19–24; Acts 5:29; Romans 13:1
- 4 Luke 11:46; Acts 15:10; Galatians 6:13; Matthew 11:28–30; Matthew 23:23
- 5 Matthew 6:1–16; John 12:43; Philippians 2:3; Deuteronomy 6:8; John 5:44
- 6 3 John 9; Luke 11:43–54; Mark 12:38–39; Luke 14:7–11; Proverbs 25:6–7
- 7 John 1:38; John 1:49; John 3:2; John 6:25; John 3:26
- 8 James 3:1; Luke 22:32; Revelation 1:9; 1 Corinthians 1:12–13; 1 Peter 5:3
- 9 1 John 3:1; Hebrews 12:9; Malachi 1:6; Job 32:21–22; Romans 8:14–17
- 11 1 Corinthians 9:19; Galatians 5:13; John 13:14–15; Mark 10:43–44; 2 Corinthians 4:5
- 12 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6; Luke 14:11; Proverbs 29:23; Luke 18:14
- 13 Luke 11:52; Matthew 23:29; Matthew 23:23; Matthew 23:27; Zechariah 11:17
- 15 Acts 13:43; Acts 13:10; Ephesians 2:3; Galatians 6:12; Galatians 4:17
- 16 Matthew 15:14; James 5:12; Matthew 23:24; Matthew 23:17; Matthew 5:33–35
- 17 Matthew 23:19; Numbers 16:38–39; Psalm 94:8; Exodus 30:26–29
- 19 Exodus 29:37; Exodus 30:29
- 21 Psalm 26:8; 1 Kings 8:13; 2 Chronicles 6:2; Ephesians 2:22; Colossians 2:9
- 22 Matthew 5:34; Isaiah 66:1; Psalm 11:4; Revelation 4:2–3; Acts 7:49
- 23 Luke 11:42; Micah 6:8; Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13; Matthew 5:19–20
- 24 Matthew 19:24; Matthew 27:6–8; Luke 6:7–10; Matthew 15:2–6; John 18:28
- 25 Luke 11:39–40; Matthew 15:19–20; Isaiah 28:7–8; Mark 7:4–13
- 26 2 Corinthians 7:1; James 4:8; Hebrews 10:22; Ezekiel 18:31; Isaiah 55:7
- 27 Luke 11:44; Acts 23:3; Numbers 19:16; Isaiah 58:1–2
- 28 Luke 16:15; Psalm 51:6; Matthew 23:5; Matthew 12:34–35; 1 Samuel 16:7
- 29 Luke 11:47–48; Acts 2:29
- 30 Matthew 23:34–35; Jeremiah 2:30; Matthew 21:35–36; 2 Chronicles 36:15
- 31 Acts 7:51–52; 1 Thessalonians 2:15–16; Job 15:5–6; Joshua 24:22; Luke 19:22
- 32 Genesis 15:16; Numbers 32:14; 1 Thessalonians 2:16
- 33 Matthew 3:7; Matthew 12:34; Luke 3:7; Matthew 5:22; Genesis 3:15
- 34 Matthew 10:16–17; Matthew 13:52; Colossians 1:28; Luke 11:49–51; Acts 13:1
- 35 2 Chronicles 24:20–22; Hebrews 11:4; Zechariah 1:1; Genesis 4:8; Revelation 18:24
- 36 Matthew 10:23; Matthew 24:34; Luke 21:32–33; Mark 13:30–31; Ezekiel 12:21–28
- 37 Luke 13:34–35; Psalm 91:4; Ruth 2:12; Deuteronomy 32:11–12; Psalm 17:8
- 38 Jeremiah 22:5; Luke 13:35; Luke 21:24; 1 Kings 9:7; Acts 6:13–14
- 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).
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)
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.
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)
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)
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)