| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, | 1Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: |
| 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. | 2“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. |
| 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. | 3So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. |
| 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. | 4They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. |
| 5 “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. | 5All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. |
| 6 And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. | 6They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues, |
| 7 They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’ | 7the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed. |
| 8 “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. | 8But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. |
| 9 And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. | 9And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. |
| 10 And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. | 10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ. |
| 11 The greatest among you must be a servant. | 11The greatest among you shall be your servant. |
| 12 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. | 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. |
| 13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either. | 13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter. |
| 15 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are! | 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. |
| 16 “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ | 16Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ |
| 17 Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? | 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred? |
| 18 And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. | 18And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ |
| 19 How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? | 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred? |
| 20 When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. | 20So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. |
| 21 And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. | 21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it. |
| 22 And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne. | 22And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it. |
| 23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. | 23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. |
| 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! | 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. |
| 25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! | 25Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. |
| 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. | 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well. |
| 27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. | 27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity. |
| 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. | 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. |
| 29 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. | 29Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous. |
| 30 Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’ | 30And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ |
| 31 “But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. | 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. |
| 32 Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. | 32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers. |
| 33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? | 33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell? |
| 34 “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. | 34Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town. |
| 35 As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. | 35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. |
| 36 I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation. Jesus Grieves over Jerusalem | 36Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation. |
| 37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. | 37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! |
| 38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. | 38Look, your house is left to you desolate. |
| 39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD !’ ” | 39For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ” |
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