Matthew 23:29-33

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You ²  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves ³  of the righteous. 23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, ⁴  we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ⁵ 

[23:29]  ¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ² tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

[23:29]  ³ tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

[23:30]  ⁴ tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).

[23:33]  ⁵ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”