RELIGIOUS HYPOCRISY DENOUNCED

37 As he was speaking, a Phariseea asked him to dine with him. So he went in and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that he did not first perform the ritual washingA,b before dinner.c 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greedd and evil.e 40 Fools!f Didn’t he who made the outside make the inside too? 41 But give from what is within to the poor,B,g and then everything is cleanh for you.

42 “But woei to you Pharisees! You give a tenthC,j of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypassD justicek and love for God.E,l These things you should have done without neglecting the others.

43 “Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seatm in the synagoguesn and greetings in the marketplaces.

44 “Woe to you!F You are like unmarked graves;o the people who walk over them don’t know it.”

45 One of the experts in the lawp answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult us too.”

46 Then he said, “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdensq that are hard to carry, and yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers.r

47 “Woe to you! You build tombsG for the prophets,s and your fathers killedt them. 48 Therefore, you are witnessesu that you approveH,v the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments.I 49 Because of this, the wisdom of Godw said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles,x and some of them they will kill and persecute,’y 50 so that this generationz may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the worldJ,aa—51 from the blood of Abelab to the blood of Zechariah,ac who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.

“Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible.K

52 “Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge.ad You didn’t go in yourselves, and you hinderedae those who were trying to go in.”

53 When he left there,L the scribes and the Pharisees began to opposeaf him fiercely and to cross-examine him about many things; 54 they were lying in waitag for him to trap him in something he said.M,ah