Bible / Matthew
Matthew 23
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation
1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,
2 Saying: The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses. Fathers
3 All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not. For they say, and do not. Fathers
4 For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders: but with a finger of their own they will not move them. Fathers
5 And all their works they do for to be seen of men. For they make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes.
6 And they love the first places at feasts and the first chairs in the synagogues,
7 And salutations in the market place, and to be called by men, Rabbi.
8 But be not you called Rabbi. For one is your master: and all you are brethren.
9 And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven. CCC · Fathers
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, Christ.
11 He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. CCC
13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for you yourselves do not enter in and those that are going in, you suffer not to enter.
14 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour the houses of widows, praying long prayers. For this you shall receive the greater judgment.
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you go round about the sea and the land to make one proselyte. And when he is made, you make him the child of hell twofold more than yourselves.
16 Woe to you, blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but he that shall swear by the gold of the temple is a debtor. CCC
17 Ye foolish and blind: for whether is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? CCC
18 And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it is a debtor. CCC
19 Ye blind: for whether is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? CCC
20 He therefore that sweareth by the altar sweareth by it and by all things that are upon it. CCC
21 And whosoever shall swear by the temple sweareth by it and by him that dwelleth in it. CCC
22 And he that sweareth by heaven sweareth by the throne of God and by him that sitteth thereon. CCC
23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you tithe mint and anise and cummin and have left the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and faith. These things you ought to have done and not to leave those undone. Fathers
24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. Fathers
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside may become clean. Fathers
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful but within are full of dead men’s bones and of all filthiness. Fathers
28 So you also outwardly indeed appear to men just: but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Fathers
29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, that build the sepulchres of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the just,
30 And say: If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 You serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell? Fathers
34 Therefore behold I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify: and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.
35 That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. Fathers
36 Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.
37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not? CCC · Fathers
38 Behold, your house shall be left to you, desolate. Fathers
39 For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth till you say: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. CCC
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text.
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“For they bind heavy burdens, and lay them upon men's shoulders; but they themselves will not so much as move them with a finger.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Fathers
“For they bind heavy burdens, and lay them upon men's shoulders; but they themselves will not so much as move them with a finger.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Fathers
“For they bind heavy burdens, and lay them upon men's shoulders; but they themselves will not so much as move them with a finger.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 2367 “Called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of God. "Married couples should regard it as their proper…”
“Jesus, therefore, will be to them the author and teacher of such transgression, inasmuch as He commanded that one Being should be called Father,”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter I. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
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- CCC 526 “To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we must humble ourselves and…”
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- CCC 2111 “Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer…”
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2111 “Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer…”
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2111 “Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer…”
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2111 “Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer…”
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2111 “Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer…”
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2111 “Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer…”
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2111 “Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer…”
Read the Fathers
“… not into conversation with us; will they not deserve to hear what our Lord Jesus Christ said to them: Whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outward, and within are full of dead men's bones; which pay tithe of mint, and swallow a camel: ye blind guides!”
Quoted in Dialogue with Trypho, St. Justin Martyr (c. AD 160), Chapter CXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Fathers
“… not into conversation with us; will they not deserve to hear what our Lord Jesus Christ said to them: Whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outward, and within are full of dead men's bones; which pay tithe of mint, and swallow a camel: ye blind guides!”
Quoted in Dialogue with Trypho, St. Justin Martyr (c. AD 160), Chapter CXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Fathers
“And saying similar things to these men, He declares: "Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse that which is within the cup, that the outside may be clean also.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XVIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Fathers
“… not into conversation with us; will they not deserve to hear what our Lord Jesus Christ said to them: Whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outward, and within are full of dead men's bones; which pay tithe of mint, and swallow a camel: ye blind guides!”
Quoted in Dialogue with Trypho, St. Justin Martyr (c. AD 160), Chapter CXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“For the sepulchre appears beautiful outside, but within it is full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness; even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of wickedness and hypocrisy.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XVIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Fathers
“For the sepulchre appears beautiful outside, but within it is full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness; even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of wickedness and hypocrisy.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XVIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Fathers
“Wherefore they cannot receive His inheritance: as David says, "Sinners are alienated from the womb; their anger is after the likeness of a serpent." And therefore did the Lord term those whom He knew to be the offspring of men "a generation of vipers;”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XLI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
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“Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XIV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 558 “Jesus recalls the martyrdom of the prophets who had been put to death in Jerusalem. Nevertheless he persists in calling Jerusalem to…”
“Behold, your house shall be left unto you desolate.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXVI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“This expression [of our Lord], "How often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou wouldest not,”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXVII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“Wherefore your house shall be left unto you desolate.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXVII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Fathers
“Wherefore your house shall be left unto you desolate.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXVII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Catechism
- CCC 674 “The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by "all Israel", for "a hardening has come…”
A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.