19. You blind people! Which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy?
20. Therefore, those who swear by the altar swear by it and by everything that’s on it.
21. Those who swear by the temple swear by it and by everything that’s part of it.
22. Those who swear by heaven swear by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
23. “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You give to God a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, but you forget about the more important matters of the Law: justice, peace, and faith. You ought to give a tenth but without forgetting about those more important matters.
24. You blind guides! You filter out an ant but swallow a camel.
25. “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and plate, but inside they are full of violence and pleasure seeking.
26. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup so that the outside of the cup will be clean too.
27. “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs. They look beautiful on the outside. But inside they are full of dead bones and all kinds of filth.
28. In the same way you look righteous to people. But inside you are full of pretense and rebellion.
29. “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.