Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
"The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat;
therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.
They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.
They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.
They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues,
and greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called rabbi by others.
But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.
And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven.
Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.
The greatest among you will be your servant.
All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces; for you neither enter yourselves nor allow those trying to enter to go in.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you travel across sea and land to make a single convert; and when they become one, you make them twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’
You blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
You also say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing; but whoever swears by the gift on the altar is bound by the oath.’
You blind fools! Which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who sits on it.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors.
“You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?
Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and teachers; some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were unwilling!
Look, your house is left to you desolate.
For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
This is the Patristics text that appears when you select Patristics.
