Yehoshua (יהושע) condemns the sofrim and P'rushim
(Mark 12:38-40; Luke 11:37-52)
Ancient Days of the Seat of Moshe
23:1 Then spoke Yeshua (ישוע) to the multitude, and to His Taught ones,
23:2
Saying, The Sofrim and the P'rushim sit in Seat of Moshe:
23:3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, [that] observe and do; but do not you after their works: for they say, and do not.
23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay [them] on men's shoulders; but they [themselves] will not move them with one of their fingers.
23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
23:6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the Shul,
23:7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
23:8 But be not you called 'Rabbi': for One is your Rabbi, [even] Mashiach; and all you are brethren.
23:9 And call no [man] your father upon the earth: for one is your AVI, which is in shamayim.
23:10 Neither be you called 'teachers': for One is your Teacher, [even] Mashiach.
23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your eved.
23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
23:13 But Woe to you, Sofrim and P'rushim, tzeviut (hypocrisy)!
you shut up the kingdom of heaven in people's face: for you neither go in [yourselves], neither will you let those enter who trying to.
23:14 * [Woe to you, Sofrim and P'rushim, tzeviut (hypocrisy)!
for you devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater damnation.]
23:15 Woe to you, Sofrim and P'rushim, tzeviut (hypocrisy)!
for you cross sea and land to make one proselyte (convert), and when he is made, you make him twice time more a son of Gey Hinnom than yourselves.
23:16 Woe to you, [ye] blind guides, which say,
Whosoever shall swear by ha mikdash, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of ha mikdash, he is a debtor!
23:17 [Ye] fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or ha mikdash that sanctifies the gold?
23:18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
23:19 [Ye] fools and blind: for whether [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
23:20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon.
23:21 And whoso shall swear by ha mikdash, swears by it, and by him that dwells therein.
23:22 And he that shall swear by shamayim, sweareth by the throne of Elohim (אלהים), and by him that sitteth thereon.
23:23 Woe to you, Sofrim and P'rushim, tzeviut (hypocrisy)!
for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected those matters of the Torah that are of greater consequences: misphat, chesed, and emunah: these are the necessary matters you should have done, and not to leave the other undone.
23:24 [Ye] blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
23:25 Woe to you, Sofrim and P'rushim, tzeviut (hypocrisy)!
for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
23:26 [You] blind Parush, first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may be clean also.
23:27 Woe to you, Sofrim and P'rushim, tzeviut (hypocrisy)!
for you are like to whited tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but within full of dead [men's] bones, and of all uncleanness.
23:28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of tzeviut (hypocrisy) and lawlessly against the Torah.
23:29 Woe to you, sofrim and P'rushim, tzeviut (hypocrisy)!
because you build the tombs of the Neviim, and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
23:30 And say, If we had been in the days of our avot, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Neviim.
23:31 Wherefore you be witnesses to yourselves, that you are the benai them which killed the Neviim.
23:32 Fill you up then the measure of your avot.
23:33 You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?
23:34 Wherefore, hinnei, I send to you Neviim, and wise men, and sofrim: and [some] of them you shall kill and crucify; and [some] of them shall you scourge in your Shul, and persecute [them] from city to city:
23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Hevel to the blood of Z'kharyah Ben Berekhyah, whom you slew between ha mikdash and the altar.
23:36 Amen I say to you:
All these things shall come upon this generation.
Mashiach weeps over Yerushalayim
23:37 O Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim, [thou] that kills the Neviim, and stone them which are sent to you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not!
23:38 Hinnei, your house is left to you desolate.
23:39 For I say to you, You shall not see me henceforth, till you shall say, Baruch ha ba B'Shem ADONAI.
*[ ] This verse not found in early mss
swallow a gnat; then you swallow a camel! It was the custom, says TRENCH, of the stricter Jews to strain their wine, vinegar, and other potables through linen or gauze, lest unawares they should drink down some little unclean insect therein and thus transgress (Leviticus 11:20,23,41,42) The gnat is a tiny insect that often fell into a cup of sweet win, was stained out by sucking the wine through the teeth, . Swallow the camel is to say that they are grossly blind to enormous sins like hypocrisy, dishonestly, cruety, and greed.
Hypocrisy choneph - hypocrisy
Mt 23:28Even so you also * * outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
1Ti 4:2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Yeshayahu 32:6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against ADONAI, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.