Woe to the Pharisees and Lawyers

37 As Jesus was [fn]speaking, a Pharisee invited him to have a meal with him, so Jesus went in and reclined at the table. 38 The Pharisee was amazed when he saw that Jesus did not first perform the ritual washing before the meal. 39 So the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but inside you are full of plunder and evil. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside also make the inside? 41 But give as alms the things that are on the inside, and behold, everything will be clean for you.

42 “But woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint, rue, and every herb, yet you ignore justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you, Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to [fn]you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without realizing it.”

45 In response one of the lawyers said to him, “Teacher, by saying these things, yoʋ insult us as well.” 46 But Jesus said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you burden people with burdens that are hard to bear, but you yourselves do not touch the burdens with even one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them. 48 So you [fn]bear witness to and approve of the works of your fathers, for they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 That is why the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and some of whom they will persecute.’ 50 As a result, this generation will be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house of God. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held accountable. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were trying to enter.”

53 As he [fn]was saying these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to question him closely about many things, 54 lying in wait for him [fn]and seeking to catch him in some word coming out of his [fn]mouth, so that they might accuse him.