Jesus Accuses the Pharisees^(A)

³⁷ After Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee asked Jesus to ·eat [dine] with him. So Jesus went in and ·sat at the table [reclined; ^C the posture for a banquet or dinner party; see 7:36]. ³⁸ But the Pharisee was surprised when he saw that Jesus did not wash his hands before the meal [^Ca Jewish ritual for ceremonial purity]. ³⁹ The Lord said to him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of ·greed [extortion; robbery] and ·evil [wickedness]. ⁴⁰ You foolish people! The same one who made what is outside also made what is inside. ⁴¹ So ·give what is in your dishes [or give from your hearts; ^Lgive the inside things] ·to the poor [as alms], and then ·you [everything] will be fully clean. ⁴² ·How terrible for [^LWoe to] you Pharisees! You ·give God one-tenth of [pay tithe on] even your mint, your rue, and every other ·plant [herb] in your garden. But you ·fail to be fair to others [neglect to show justice] and to love God. These are the things you should do ·while continuing [without neglecting] to do those other things. ⁴³ ·How terrible for [^LWoe to] you Pharisees, because you love to have the most ·important [honorable] seats in the synagogues, and you love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴ ·How terrible for [^LWoe to] you, because you are like ·hidden [unmarked] graves, which people walk on without knowing.”

Jesus Talks to Experts on the Law^(B)

⁴⁵ One of the experts on the law said to Jesus, “Teacher, when you say these things, you are insulting us, too.”

⁴⁶ Jesus answered, “·How terrible for [^LWoe to] you, you experts on the law! You ·make strict rules that are very hard for people to obey [^Lburden people with burdens hard to carry], but you yourselves don’t even ·try to follow those rules [or lift a finger to ease the burden]. ⁴⁷ ·How terrible for [^LWoe to] you, because you build ·tombs [monuments; memorials] for the prophets whom your ancestors killed! ⁴⁸ And now you ·show [are witnesses; testify] that you approve of what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you build ·tombs [monuments; memorials] for them! ⁴⁹ This is why ·in his wisdom God said [^LGod’s Wisdom said; ^Ca personification of wisdom; Prov. 8], ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them. ·They will kill some, and they will treat others cruelly [or Some they will persecute and kill].’ ⁵⁰ So ·you who live now [this generation] will be ·punished for [charged with; held responsible for] the ·deaths of all the prophets who were killed [^Lblood of all the prophets shed] since the ·beginning [foundation; creation] of the world— ⁵¹ from the ·killing [blood] of Abel to the ·killing [blood] of Zechariah, who died between the altar and the ·Temple [sanctuary; ^Lhouse (of God); ^Cin the arrangement of the Hebrew OT, Abel and Zechariah were the first and last people to be murdered; Gen. 4:4–8; 2 Chr. 24:20–21]. Yes, I tell you that ·you who are alive now [this generation] will be ·punished [charged; held responsible] for them all.

⁵² “·How terrible for [^LWoe to] you, you experts on the law. You have taken away the key to ·learning about God [^Lknowledge]. You yourselves ·would not learn [^Ldid not enter], and you ·stopped [hindered; prevented] others from ·learning [^Lentering], too.”

⁵³ When Jesus left, the ·teachers of the law [scribes] and the Pharisees began to ·give him trouble [fiercely oppose him; act with hostility], ·asking him [provoking/attacking/besieging him with] questions about many things, ⁵⁴ ·trying [lying in wait; plotting an ambush; ^Cmetaphorically] to catch him saying something wrong.

Obey God’s Law^(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and ·teachers of the law [scribes] came to Jesus from Jerusalem. They asked him, ² “Why don’t your ·followers [disciples] obey the ·unwritten laws which have been handed down to us [^Ltraditions of the elders]? [^LFor] They don’t wash their hands before they eat [^Ca Jewish ritual for ceremonial purity].”

³ Jesus answered, “And why do you ·refuse to obey [break; violate] God’s command ·so that you can follow your own teachings [^Lfor the sake of your traditions]? ⁴ God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother [Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16],’ and ‘Anyone who ·says cruel things to [speaks evil of; curses] his father or mother must be put to death [Ex. 21:17; Lev. 20:9].’ ⁵ But you say a person can tell his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you, but I have ·given [dedicated; devoted] it to God already [^Ca practice known as Corban; see Mark 7:10–12].’ ⁶ You teach that person ·not to [that he need not] honor his father or his mother. You ·rejected [invalidated; canceled; nullified] ·what God said [^Lthe word of God] for the sake of your own ·rules [tradition]. ⁷ You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he ·said [^Lprophesied] about you:

⁴ They ·make strict rules [^Ltie up heavy loads/burdens that are hard to carry] and ·try to force people to obey them [^Lput 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; ^Lmove them with their finger].

⁵ “They do good things so that other people will see them. They enlarge ·the little boxes holding Scriptures that they wear [^Ltheir phylacteries; ^Cleather 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 [^Llengthen their tassels; ^CJewish males were to wear tassels on the four corners of their garment; Num. 15:38; Deut. 22:12]. ⁶ Those Pharisees and teachers of the law love to have the ·most important seats [places of greatest honor] at ·feasts [banquets] and [^Lthe best seats] in the synagogues. ⁷ They love people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces, and they love to have people call them ·‘Teacher [^LRabbi].’

²⁵ “·How terrible for [^LWoe to] you, ·teachers of the law [scribes] and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You ·wash [clean] the outside of your cups and dishes [^Cfor ceremonial purity], but inside they are full of ·things you got by cheating others and by pleasing only yourselves [^Lgreed/robbery and self-indulgence]. ²⁶ Pharisees, you are blind! First make the inside of the cup^[a] clean, and then the outside ·can be truly [or will also be] clean.

²⁷ “·How terrible for [^LWoe 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]. 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].

²⁹ “·How terrible for [^LWoe 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 [^Lthe righteous]. ³⁰ You say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have ·helped them kill [^Lbeen partners in the blood of] the prophets.’ ³¹ But you ·give proof [^Ltestify against yourselves] that you are ·descendants [sons; children] of those who murdered the prophets. ³² ·And you will complete the sin that your ancestors started [or Go ahead and finish what your fathers started!; ^LFill up the measure of your fathers].

³³ “You ·are snakes [serpents]! A ·family of poisonous snakes [^Tbrood/offspring of vipers]! How are you going to escape ·God’s judgment [the sentence/judgment/damnation of hell/Gehenna; 5:22]? 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. ³⁵ So ·you will be guilty for [^Lupon you will come] ·the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth [^Lall the righteous blood shed on the earth]—from the ·murder [^Lblood] of that ·good [righteous] man Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berakiah, whom you murdered between the ·Temple [sanctuary] and the altar [^Cin 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]. ³⁶ I tell you the truth, all of these things will happen to ·you people who are living now [^Lthis generation].

The Things that Truly Please God^(A)

7 When some Pharisees and some ·teachers of the law [scribes] came from Jerusalem, they gathered around Jesus. ² They saw that some of Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] ate food with hands that were not clean, that is, they hadn’t [ceremonially] washed them. ³ ([For] The Pharisees and all the Jews never eat before washing their hands ·in the way required [^Lwith a fist; ^Cthe meaning of the idiom is uncertain; it could mean “with a handful of water,” “with cupped hand,” “up to the wrist” or something else] by ·their unwritten laws [^Lthe traditions of the elders]. ⁴ ·And when they buy something in the market, they never eat it [or, And when they come from the market (where they might have touched something “unclean”), they do not eat] until they wash themselves in a special way. They also ·follow [hold fast to; observe] many other ·unwritten laws [traditions], such as the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots.^[a])

⁵ The Pharisees and the ·teachers of the law [scribes] asked Jesus, “Why don’t your ·followers [disciples] ·obey [walk according to] the ·unwritten laws which have been handed down to us [traditions of the elders]? Why do they eat their food with hands that are ·not clean [defiled]?”

⁶ Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right when he ·spoke [prophesied] about you hypocrites. ·He wrote [As it is written],

⁸ You ·have stopped following [neglected; abandoned] the commands of God, and you ·follow [hold on to] only human ·teachings^[b] [traditions].”

⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “You ·cleverly ignore [are very good at ignoring/despising] the commands of God so you can follow your own ·teachings [tradition].