Twentieth_Century(i)
16 Alas for you, you blind guides! You say 'if any answer by the Temple, his oath counts for nothing; but, if any one swears by the gold of the Temple, his oath is binding him'!
17 Fools that you are and blind! Which is the more important? The gold? Or the Temple which has given sacredness to the gold?
18 You say, too, 'If any one swears by the altar, his oath counts for nothing, but, if any one swears by the offering placed on it, his oath is binding on him'!
19 Blind indeed! Which is the more important? The offering? or the altar which gives sacredness to the offering?
20 Therefore a man, swearing by the altar, swears by it and by all that is on it,
21 and a man, swearing by the Temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it,
22 while a man, swearing by Heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits upon it.
23 Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You pay tithes on mint, fennel, and caraway seed, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law--justice, mercy, and good faith. These last you ought to have put into practice, without neglecting the first.