But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! Ye shut men out of the kingdom of heaven. Yet, you do not enter in yourselves, and you do not allow others to attempt to enter. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! Ye devour widows' houses and, for a pretence, make long prayers. Therefore, you will receive the greater damnation.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! You venture over land and sea for one proselyte. Then, when you have him, you make him two times more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides who say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, is worth nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, makes a good pledge! Ye fools and blind men. What is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
And ye say, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, is worth nothing; but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon it, is worthy of praise. Ye fools and blind men. What is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? The one who, therefore, swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things upon it. And the one who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells therein. And He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits thereon.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, but ye have ignored the weightier matters of the law; judgment, mercy, and faith. Ye blind guides who strain from your drink a gnat and swallow a camel.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! Ye make the outside of the cup and platter clean, but inside they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee. First clean the inside of the cup and platter, so the outside may be clean also.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! Ye are like whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and uncleanness. Even if, on the outside, you appear righteous to others, inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! Ye build the tombs for the prophets and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous. Ye say, If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Be witnesses unto yourselves. Ye are the children of those who killed the prophets and ye fill up what your fathers measured out.
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? I send prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them ye shall kill and crucify. Some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city. On your hands shall be the blood of all the righteous shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. All these things shall come upon this generation.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killed the prophets, and stoned those sent to thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not have it! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. Ye shall not see me again until ye shall say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
24 Jesus went outside and His disciples came to show Him the buildings of the temple. Jesus said, Take note of all this. There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. On the mount of Olives, the disciples said, Tell us, when will this happen? What is the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?