25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For (A)you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full [a]of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first (B)clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the [b]outside of it may also become clean.

27 (C)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 (D)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you (E)are [c]sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 [d]Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You snakes, (F)you [e]offspring of vipers, how [f]will you escape the [g]sentence of [h](G)hell?

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 23:25 Or as a result of
  2. Matthew 23:26 If the inside was ritually unclean, the entire vessel was unclean whether the outside was cleaned or not (cf. Num 19:15)
  3. Matthew 23:31 Or descendants
  4. Matthew 23:32 I.e., finish what they started
  5. Matthew 23:33 Or brood
  6. Matthew 23:33 Lit are you to escape
  7. Matthew 23:33 Or judgment
  8. Matthew 23:33 Gr Gehenna

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