Gospel of Matthew (21-28) for the ALT Bible

Third Edition

The Gospel According to Matthew

Sample passage from chapters 21-28

The Gospel According to Matthew (11-20)

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Matthew 23

¹Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, ²saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees [have] sat on the seat of Moses. ³Therefore, all [things], as many as they tell you* to be observing, be observing and doing, but stop doing according to their works, for they say and do not do [fig., they do not practice what they preach]. ⁴For they bind together heavy and hard to carry burdens and lay [them] on the shoulders of the people, but they are not willing to move them with their finger.

⁵“But all their works they do to be seen by the people, and they enlarge their phylacteries [i.e., small boxes containing Scripture verses], and they extend the fringes of their robes. ⁶They also affectionately love the first couches [fig., places of honor] at the banquets and the first seats [fig., most important places] in the synagogues ⁷and the greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by the people, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’

⁸“But you* shall not be called ‘Rabbi,’ for One is your* Master--the Christ, and you* are all brothers [and sisters]. ⁹And you* shall not call [anyone] your* father on the earth, for one is your* Father, the [One] in the heavens. ¹⁰Neither shall you* be called ‘masters,’ for one is your* Master--the Christ. ¹¹But the greatest of you* will be your* servant. ¹²And whoever will exalt himself, will be humbled; and whoever will humble himself, will be exalted.

¹³“But how horrible it will be to you*, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you* devour the houses of the widows, [fig., illegally cheat widows’ out of their property] and in pretense [or, with a false show] are long [in] praying, because of this you* will receive more severe judgment [or, condemnation].

¹⁴“How horrible it will be to you*, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you* shut off the kingdom of the heavens before the people, for you* do not enter, nor do You* allow the ones entering to enter.

¹⁵“How horrible it will be to you*, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you* travel over the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte [or, convert to Pharisaic Judaism], and whenever it happens, you* make him twice as much a son of hell [Gr., gehenna] [as] you* [are]!

¹⁶“How horrible it will be to you*, blind guides, the ones saying, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the temple, it is nothing, but whoever takes an oath by the gold of the temple is obligated [to fulfill the oath].’ ¹⁷Fools and blind [guides]! For which [is] greater, the gold or the temple, the one sanctifying the gold? ¹⁸And [you* say], ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it is nothing, but whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is obligated [to fulfill the oath].’ ¹⁹Fools and blind [guides]! For which [is] greater, the gift or the altar which sanctifies the gift? ²⁰Therefore, the one having taken an oath by the altar, takes an oath by it and by all things on it. ²¹And the one having taken an oath by the sanctuary, takes an oath by it and by the One having dwelt in it. ²²And the one having taken an oath by heaven, takes an oath by the throne of God and by the One sitting on it.

²³“How horrible it will be to you*, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you tithe [i.e., give a tenth as an offering] of the mint and the dill and the cumin [i.e., various spices] and neglected the weightier [fig., more important] [matters] of the Law: the judgment [or, justice] and the mercy and the faith; these it was necessary to do, and those not to be neglecting. ²⁴Blind guides! The ones straining out the gnat, but swallowing the camel!

²⁵“How horrible it will be to you*, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you* cleanse [or, purify] the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within they are full of violent greed and unrighteousness. ²⁶Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of them shall also become clean.

²⁷“How horrible it will be to you*, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you* resemble graves having been whitewashed [or, whitewashed graves], which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of bones of dead [people] and of all uncleanness [or, impurity]. ²⁸In the same way, you* also indeed outwardly appear to the people [as] righteous, but within you* are full of hypocrisy [or, insincerity] and lawlessness. [cp. Acts 23:3]

²⁹“How horrible it will be to you*, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you* build the graves of the prophets and adorn the tombs of the righteous, ³⁰and you* say, ‘If we were [fig., had lived] in the days of our fathers, we would not have been participants with them in the blood of the prophets,’ ³¹with the result that you* testify against yourselves that you* are sons of the ones having murdered the prophets. ³²And you* fill up the measure of your* fathers. ³³Serpents! Brood of vipers! How shall you* escape from the judgment of hell? [Gr., gehenna]

³⁴“For this reason, look!, I send to you* prophets and wise men and scribes; and [some] of them you* will kill and crucify, and [some] of them you* will scourge in your* synagogues and will pursue from city to city; ³⁵in order that on you* shall come all the righteous blood being poured out on the earth from the blood of Abel the righteous up to the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom you* murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. [see Gen 4:8-10; 2Chr 24:20-22] ³⁶Positively, I say to you* that all these things will come on this generation.

³⁷“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning the ones having been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her own chickens under the wings, and you* did not want to! ³⁸Look! Your* house is left to you* desolate. ³⁹For I say to you*, by no means shall you* see Me hereafter, until you* say, ‘Blessed [is] the One coming in [the] name of [the] LORD!’” [Psalm 118:26]

Scripture taken from the Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament of the Holy Bible: Third Edition.
Copyright © 2007 by Gary F. Zeolla of Darkness to Light ministry (www.zeolla.org/christian).
Previously copyrighted © 1999, 2001, 2005 by Gary F. Zeolla.

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The above sample passage was posted on this Web site September 17, 2007.

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