Home Prior Books Index
←Prev   Matthew 23 as rendered by/in  Next→ 

Did you notice?
 You can SEARCH IslamAwakened: 

23:1  Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his ·followers [disciples],
23:2  “The ·teachers of the law [scribes] and the Pharisees ·have the authority to interpret what the law of Moses says [L sit in Moses’ seat/chair].
23:3  So you should ·obey [do; practice] and ·follow [keep; observe] whatever they tell you, but ·their lives are not good examples for you to follow [L do not follow their actions]. ·They tell you to do things, but they themselves don’t do them [L For they say but do not do].
23:4  They ·make strict rules [L tie up heavy loads/burdens that are hard to carry] and ·try to force people to obey them [L put them on people’s shoulders], but they are unwilling to ·help those who struggle under the weight of their rules [lift a finger to move them; L move them with their finger].
23:5  “They do good things so that other people will see them. They enlarge ·the little boxes holding Scriptures that they wear [L their phylacteries; C leather cases worn on the left arm and forehead to literally fulfill Deut. 6:8; 11:18], and they ·make their special prayer clothes very long [L lengthen their tassels; C Jewish males were to wear tassels on the four corners of their garment; Num. 15:38; Deut. 22:12].
23:6  Those Pharisees and teachers of the law love to have the ·most important seats [places of greatest honor] at ·feasts [banquets] and [L the best seats] in the synagogues.
23:7  They love people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces, and they love to have people call them ·‘Teacher [L Rabbi].’
23:8  “But you must not be called ‘·Teacher [Rabbi],’ because you have only one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters together.
23:9  And don’t call any person on earth ‘Father,’ because you have one Father, who is in heaven.
23:10  And you should not be called ‘·Master [Leader; Teacher; Instructor]’ because you have only one ·Master [Leader; Teacher; Instructor], the ·Christ [Messiah].
23:11  ·Whoever is your servant is the greatest among you [L The greatest among you will be your servant].
23:12  Whoever ·makes himself great [lifts up/exalts himself] will be made humble. Whoever makes himself humble will be ·made great [exalted; lifted up].
23:13  “·How terrible for [L Woe to] you, ·teachers of the law [scribes] and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! [L Because] You ·close [shut; lock] the door for people to enter the kingdom of heaven. You yourselves don’t enter, and you ·stop [don’t allow] others who are trying to enter.
23:14  | ·How terrible for [L Woe to] you, ·teachers of the law [scribes] and Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You ·take away [L devour] widows’ houses, and you say long prayers ·so that people will notice you [as a pretense]. So you will have a worse ·punishment [condemnation].|
23:15  “·How terrible for [L Woe to] you, ·teachers of the law [scribes] and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You travel across land and sea to ·find one person who will change to your ways [L make one convert/proseltye]. When you ·find that person [make that convert], you make him ·more fit for hell than [L twice the son of hell/Gehenna that; 5:22] you are.
23:16  “·How terrible for [L Woe to] you! ·You guide the people, but you are blind [L Blind guides!]. You say, ‘If people ·swear [make an oath/vow] by the Temple when they make a promise, that means nothing. But if they swear by the gold that is in the Temple, they ·must keep that promise [are obligated/bound].’
23:17  You are blind fools! Which is greater: the gold or the Temple that makes that gold ·holy [sacred; sanctified]?
23:18  And you say, ‘If people ·swear [make an oath/vow] by the altar when they make a promise, that means nothing. But if they ·swear [make an oath/vow] by the ·gift [offering] on the altar, they ·must keep that promise [are obligated/bound].’
23:19  You are blind! Which is greater: the ·gift [offering] or the altar that makes the gift ·holy [sacred; sanctified]?
23:20  [L So; Therefore] The person who swears by the altar is really swearing by the altar and also everything on the altar.
23:21  And the person who swears by the Temple is really swearing by the Temple and the One who ·lives [dwells] in the Temple.
23:22  The person who swears by heaven is also swearing by God’s throne and the One who sits on that throne.
23:23  “·How terrible for [L Woe to] you, ·teachers of the law [scribes] and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You ·give to God one-tenth of [pay tithe on] everything you have—even your mint, dill, and cumin. But you ·don’t obey [ignore; neglect] the ·really important teachings [L weightier matters] of the law—justice, mercy, and ·being loyal [faith; faithfulness]. These are the things you should do, ·as well as [without neglecting] those other things.
23:24  ·You guide the people, but you are blind! [L Blind guides!] You ·are like a person who picks a fly out of a drink and then swallows a camel [L strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel; C worrying about the smallest mistakes while committing the biggest sins]!
23:25  “·How terrible for [L Woe to] you, ·teachers of the law [scribes] and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You ·wash [clean] the outside of your cups and dishes [C for ceremonial purity], but inside they are full of ·things you got by cheating others and by pleasing only yourselves [L greed/robbery and self-indulgence].
23:26  Pharisees, you are blind! First make the inside of the cup clean, and then the outside ·can be truly [or will also be] clean.
23:27  “·How terrible for [L Woe to] you, ·teachers of the law [scribes] and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You are like ·tombs that are painted white [whitewashed tombs]. Outside, those tombs ·look fine [appear beautiful], but inside, they are full of the bones of dead people and all kinds of ·unclean things [filth; corruption; impurity].
23:28  It is the same with you. ·People look at you and think you are good [or On the outside you look like righteous people], but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and ·evil [lawlessness].
23:29  “·How terrible for [L Woe to] you, ·teachers of the law [scribes] and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets, and you ·show honor to [decorate; adorn] the graves of ·those who lived good lives [L the righteous].
23:30  You say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have ·helped them kill [L been partners in the blood of] the prophets.’
23:31  But you ·give proof [L testify against yourselves] that you are ·descendants [sons; children] of those who murdered the prophets.
23:32  ·And you will complete the sin that your ancestors started [or Go ahead and finish what your fathers started!; L Fill up the measure of your fathers].
23:33  “You ·are snakes [serpents]! A ·family of poisonous snakes [T brood/offspring of vipers]! How are you going to escape ·God’s judgment [the sentence/judgment/damnation of hell/Gehenna; 5:22]?
23:34  ·So I tell you this [For this reason]: I am sending to you prophets and wise men and ·teachers [scribes; experts in the law]. Some of them you will kill and crucify. Some of them you will ·beat [scourge; flog] in your synagogues and ·chase [hunt; persecute] from town to town.
23:35  So ·you will be guilty for [L upon you will come] ·the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth [L all the righteous blood shed on the earth]—from the ·murder [L blood] of that ·good [righteous] man Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berakiah, whom you murdered between the ·Temple [sanctuary] and the altar [C in the book order of the Hebrew Old Testament, Abel (Gen. 4:8) and Zechariah (2 Chr. 24:21) were the first and last men to be murdered].
23:36  I tell you the truth, all of these things will happen to ·you people who are living now [L this generation].
23:37  “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone to death those who are sent to you. ·Many times [How often] I wanted to gather your ·people [L children] as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you ·did not let me [refused].
23:38  ·Now [L Look; T Behold] your house ·will be [L is] left ·completely empty [abandoned; deserted; desolate; Jer. 22:5].
23:39  [L For] I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘·God bless [L Blessed is] the One who comes in the name of the Lord [Ps. 118:26].’”