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M ATTHEW 23
page 885
died, and the third brother married her. This
continued with all seven of them. 27 Last of all,
the woman also died. 28 So tell us, whose wife
will she be in the resurrection? For all seven
were married to her.”
29 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you
don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know
the power of God. 30 For when the dead rise, they
will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In
this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.
31 “But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about
this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said,* 32 ‘I am
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob.’* So he is the God of the living, not
the dead.”
33 When the crowds heard him, they were astounded at his teaching.
The Most Important Commandment
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met
together to question him again. 35 One of them,
an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with
this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord
your God with all your heart, all your soul, and
all your mind.’* 38 This is the first and greatest
commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’* 40 The
entire law and all the demands of the prophets
are based on these two commandments.”
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
41 Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus
asked them a question: 42 “What do you think
about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
They replied, “He is the son of David.”
43 Jesus responded, “Then why does David,
speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call
the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,
44
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies beneath
your feet.’*
45 Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how
can the Messiah be his son?”
46 No one could answer him. And after that,
no one dared to ask him any more questions.
22:31 Greek read about this? God said. 22:32 Exod 3:6.
22:37 Deut 6:5. 22:39 Lev 19:18. 22:44 Ps 110:1.
23:2 Greek and the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses.
23:5 Greek They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their
tassels. 23:7 Rabbi, from Aramaic, means “master” or
“teacher.” 23:8 Greek brothers. 23:13 Some manuscripts
add verse 14, What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law
and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You shamelessly cheat widows
out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making
long prayers in public. Because of this, you will be severely
punished. Compare Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47. 23:15 Greek
of Gehenna; also in 23:33. 23:23 Greek tithe the mint, the dill,
and the cumin.
Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his
disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious
law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.* 3 So practice and obey
whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their
example. For they don’t practice what they
teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease
the burden.
5 “Everything they do is for show. On their
arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with
Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes
with extra long tassels.* 6 And they love to sit at
the head table at banquets and in the seats of
honor in the synagogues. 7 They love to receive
respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’*
8 “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you
have only one teacher, and all of you are equal
as brothers and sisters.* 9 And don’t address
anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God
in heaven is your Father. 10 And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one
teacher, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you
must be a servant. 12 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble
themselves will be exalted.
13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For
you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in
people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and
you don’t let others enter either.*
15 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For
you cross land and sea to make one convert, and
then you turn that person into twice the child of
hell* you yourselves are!
16 “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you!
For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by
God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear
‘by the gold in the Temple.’ 17 Blind fools!
Which is more important—the gold or the
Temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 And you
say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding,
but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. 19 How blind! For which is more important—
the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the
gift sacred? 20 When you swear ‘by the altar,’
you are swearing by it and by everything on it.
21 And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are
swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. 22 And
when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing
by the throne of God and by God, who sits on
the throne.
23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you
are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from
your herb gardens,* but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and
23