MATTHEW.
23.
Then Jesus said to the crowd and to us his disciples, 
“ Moses was the  renowned teacher who taught  the people the laws that God gave him MTY. Now, the Pharisees and the men who teach our  Jewish laws have made themselves the ones who interpret those laws IDM. 
Consequently, you should do whatever they tell you that you must do. But do not do what they do, because they themselves do not do what they tell  you that you must do. 
They  require you to obey many rules that are difficult to obey. But they themselves  do not help anyone obey those rules. It is as if they are tying up loads that are hard to carry and putting them on your shoulders MET  for you to carry. But they themselves  do not desire to help anyone obey those laws. They are like people who do not want to lift  even the slightest load that they  could lift MET 
 with one finger. Whatever they do, they do it to be seen by other people {so that other people will see them doing that}.  For example, they make extra wide the tiny boxes containing portions of Scripture that they wear on their arms. They enlarge the tassels on their robes,  to make others think that they are pious. 
 They want people to honor them. For example, at dinner parties they sit in the seats where the most important people sit. In the places of worship  they want to sit in the seats where the most honored people sit. 
Also,  they want people to greet them respectfully in the marketplaces and to honor them by calling them ‘Teacher’. 
But you  who are my disciples should not allow people to address you honorably as ‘Rabbi’,  which means ‘teacher’. I  am the only one who is  really your teacher, which means that you are all  equal, like brothers and sisters,  and none of you should act superior to another, as the Pharisees do. 
Do not  honor anyone on earth  by addressing him as ‘Father’, because God, your Father in heaven, is the only  spiritual father of all of you. 
Do not  allow people to call you ‘Instructors’, because I, the Messiah, am the one instructor who  teaches all of you. 
In contrast, everyone among you who wants  God to consider them to be important must serve others as servants do. 
 God will humble those who exalt themselves. And  he will exalt those who humble themselves.” 
 Then Jesus said to the religious leaders, “You men who teach the  Jewish laws and you Pharisees are hypocrites! There will be terrible punishment for  you, because by teaching what is false, you  prevent people MTY/HYP  who are thinking about letting God rule their lives  from doing that MET.  What you are doing is like closing a gate MET  so that people who are wanting to enter  a city cannot go in. As for you,  you do not let God  rule your lives. Neither do you allow other people  to let God rule their lives. What you do is like not going into a  house yourselves, and not allowing others to enter it  either MET.” 
“You are hypocrites, you men who teach the  Jewish laws and you Pharisees! Your punishment will be terrible, because you exert yourselves very much to get  even one person to believe what you teach. For instance, you travel across seas and lands  to distant places in order to do that. And  as a result, when one person  believes what you teach, you make that person much more deserving to go to hell than you yourselves  deserve to.” 
“You  Jewish leaders, your punishment will be terrible! You are  like people who are blind MET who are trying to lead others. You say, ‘ In the case of those who promise to  do something and then ask the Temple  to affirm what they have promised, it means nothing  if they do not do what they have promised. But if they ask the gold that is in the Temple  to affirm what they have promised, they must do what they promised.’ 
You are fools, and you are  like people who are blind MET! The gold  that is in the Temple is important, but  the Temple is even more important RHQ, because it is the Temple that the gold is in that sets the gold apart for a special use for God. 
Also  you say, ‘In the case of those who promise to  do something and then ask  the altar to affirm what they have promised, it means nothing  if they do not do what they have promised. But if they ask the gift  that they have put on the altar  to support what they have promised, they must do  what they promised.’ 
 You are like people who are blind MET. The gift  that is offered on the altar is important, but the altar is even more important RHQ because it is the altar on which the offering is offered that sets it apart for a special use for God. 
So, those who promise to do something, and then ask the altar  to affirm what they have promised are asking everything on the altar  to support what they promised. 
Those who promise to do something, and then ask the Temple  to affirm what they promised, are asking that  God, to whom the Temple belongs,  will affirm what they have promised. 
Those who promise to do something and then ask heaven  to affirm what they promised are asking the throne of God and  God, who sits on that throne,  to affirm what they promised.” 
“You men who teach the  Jewish laws and you Pharisees, your punishment will be terrible! You are hypocrites because,  even though you give  to God a tenth of  the herbs you produce, such as mint, dill, and cummin, you do not  obey God’s laws that are more important.  For example, you do not act justly toward others, you do not act mercifully toward people, and you are not trustworthy. It is good to  give a tenth of your herbs to God, but you should also  obey these other  more important laws. 
You  leaders are like blind people  who are trying to lead others. According to your laws you say that touching gnats and camels makes you unacceptable to God. What you are doing is like straining a gnat  out of a jar of water so that you do not swallow it and thereby become unacceptable to God, and  at the same time swallowing a camel  with the water MET!” 
“You men who teach people the  Jewish laws and you Pharisees, your punishment will be terrible! You are hypocrites! You are greedy and selfish, but you  make yourselves appear holy. You are like cups and plates that have been cleaned on the outside, but on the inside  they are very filthy. 
You blind Pharisees! First you must  stop being greedy and selfish.  Then you will be able to do what is  righteous. That will be like cleaning the inside of a cup first. Then when you clean MET the outside  of the cup,  the cup will truly be clean.” 
“You men who teach the  Jewish laws and you Pharisees, your punishment will be terrible! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs SIM that are painted white  so that people can see them and avoid touching them. The outside surfaces are beautiful, but inside they are full of dead people’s bones and filth. 
You are  like those tombs. When people look at you, they think that you are righteous, but in your ◄inner beings/hearts► you are hypocrites and you disobey  God’s commands.” 
“You men who teach the  Jewish laws and you Pharisees are hypocrites! Your punishment will be terrible! You rebuild the tombs of the  prophets whom others killed long ago. You decorate the monuments  that honor righteous  people. 
You say, ‘If we had  lived when our ancestors MET  lived, we would not have helped MET those who killed MTY the prophets.’ 
Thus  you recognize that you should honor the prophets, but you disregard the word of God that other men whom God has sent teach you. In that way you testify against yourselves that you are descendants and disciples MET of those who killed the prophets. 
You are as ready to murder people as MET your ancestors were! 
 You people are so wicked You are  as dangerous as poisonous snakes DOU, MET! ◄You  foolishly think that you will escape being punished in hell!/Do you  foolishly think that you will escape when  God punishes  wicked people in hell?► RHQ 
Take note that this is why I will send prophets, wise men, and other men who will teach you  my message. You will kill some of them by nailing them to crosses, and you will kill some in other ways. You will whip some of them in the places where you worship, and  you will chase them from city to city. 
As a result, God will consider that you are guilty for killing SYN all the righteous  people, including killing MTY Adam’s son Abel, who was a righteous man SYN, and Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, whom you  are guilty of killing  in the holy place between the Temple and the altar, and for killing  all the prophets who lived between  the times that those two men lived. 
Think about this: You people who have observed my ministry, it is you whom  God will punish  for killing all those  prophets!” 
“O  people of Jerusalem MTY, APO, you killed the prophets  who lived long ago, and you killed others whom  God sent to you. You killed them by throwing stones at them DOU! Many times I wanted to gather you together  to protect you, like a hen gathers her young chicks under her wings MET. But you did not want  me to do that. 
So listen to this: Your city SYN will  soon  become an uninhabited place. 
Keep this in mind: You will see me again only when I  return, and you say  about me, ‘ God is truly pleased with this man who comes with God’s authority MTY.’”