Matthew 23 · WEB
Seven Woes and the Lament Over Jerusalem
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Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,
2saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses' seat.
3All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don't do their works; for they say, and don't do.
4For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.
5But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,
6and love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called 'Rabbi, Rabbi' by men.
8But don't you be called 'Rabbi,' for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers.
9Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.
10Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Christ.
11But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.
12Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
14"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don't enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter.
15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much of a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
16"Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.'
17You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
18'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?'
19You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
20He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.
21He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who was living in it.
22He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.
23"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
24You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!
25"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.
26You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.
27"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous,
30and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn't have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'
31Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets.
32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
33You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
34Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;
35that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
36Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
37"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
38Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
39For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'"
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Summary
Jesus delivers his sharpest public rebuke, exposing the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites who burden others while exempting themselves and who love titles and recognition more than truth. Seven woes denounce their blindness, legalism, greed, and outward show that masks inner corruption — they are like whitewashed tombs and serpents who will face the judgment of Gehenna. The chapter ends with Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, longing to gather her children but rejected, leaving her house desolate until she welcomes him again.
Themes
- The danger of religious hypocrisy
- True greatness through humble service
- Inner righteousness versus outward show
- Justice, mercy, and faith as the weightier matters
- God's longing love and the tragedy of rejection
Key verses
- Matt 23:11-12 — “He who is greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Matt 23:23 — “You tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith.”
- Matt 23:27 — “You are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones.”
- Matt 23:37 — “Jerusalem, Jerusalem... How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!”
Context & background
This sermon was delivered in the temple courts of Jerusalem (modern Israel) during Passion Week, just days before Jesus' crucifixion. "Moses' seat" refers to the authority position from which scribes taught the Law, often a literal stone seat in synagogues. Phylacteries were small leather boxes containing Scripture worn on the forehead and arm during prayer; making them "broad" was an ostentatious display of piety. Whitewashed tombs refer to the practice of painting tombs white before Passover so pilgrims wouldn't accidentally touch them and become ritually unclean — outwardly clean but full of decay. Jesus' lament foreshadows the AD 70 Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the temple under General Titus.
Cross-references
- 2 Chr 24:20-21 — The murder of Zechariah son of Jehoiada in the temple court
- Isa 29:13 — "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" — the hypocrisy Jesus condemns
- Luke 11:37-54 — Parallel woes against Pharisees and lawyers
- Matt 21:9 / Ps 118:26 — "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" — quoted again at end of lament
- Mic 6:8 — "Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly" — the weightier matters Jesus references