Matthew 23:13-28

Goodspeed(i) 13 "But alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you lock the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven in men's faces, for you will neither go in yourselves nor let those enter who are trying to do so. 14 OMITTED TEXT 15 Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you scour land and sea to make one convert, and when he is converted you make him twice as fit for the pit as you are. 16 Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the sanctuary, it does not matter, but if anyone swears by the gold of the sanctuary, it is binding.' 17 Blind fools! which is greater, the gold, or the sanctuary that makes the gold sacred? 18 You say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it does not matter, but if anyone swears by the offering that is on it, it is binding.' 19 You blind men! Which is greater, the offering, or the altar that makes the offering sacred? 20 Anyone who swears by the altar is swearing by it and by everything that is on it, 21 and anyone who swears by the sanctuary is swearing by it and by him who dwells in it; 22 and anyone who swears by heaven is swearing by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. 23 "Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you pay tithes on mint, dill, and cummin, and you have let the weightier matters of the Law go—justice, mercy, and integrity. But you should have observed these, without overlooking the others. 24 You blind guides! straining out the gnat, and yet swallowing the camel! 25 Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! You must first clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may be clean too. 27 Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you are like white-washed tombs! They look well on the outside, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead, and all that is unclean. 28 So you outwardly appear to men to be upright, but within you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.