Matthew 23:23-36

23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.

24Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel!

25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside of it may also become clean.

27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity.

28In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous,

30and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’

31So you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

32Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors’ sins!

33“Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell?

34This is why I am sending you prophets, sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.

35So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

36Truly I tell you, all these things will come on this generation.