Matthew 23:13-22

“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the door for people to enter the kingdom of heaven. You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop others who are trying to enter. [How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You take away widows’ houses, and you say long prayers so that people will notice you. So you will have a worse punishment.] “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You travel across land and sea to find one person who will change to your ways. When you find that person, you make him more fit for hell than you are. “How terrible for you! You guide the people, but you are blind. You say, ‘If people swear by the Temple when they make a promise, that means nothing. But if they swear by the gold that is in the Temple, they must keep that promise.’ You are blind fools! Which is greater: the gold or the Temple that makes that gold holy? And you say, ‘If people swear by the altar when they make a promise, that means nothing. But if they swear by the gift on the altar, they must keep that promise.’ You are blind! Which is greater: the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? The person who swears by the altar is really using the altar and also everything on the altar. And the person who swears by the Temple is really using the Temple and also everything in the Temple. The person who swears by heaven is also using God’s throne and the One who sits on that throne.