for ye devour widows 40 Which devour 47 Which devour. 15 Wo unto you fcribes and Pharifees, hypocrites; for ye compafs fea and land to make one profelyte: and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than your felves. 16 Wo unto you,. ye blind guides, which fay, Whofoever shall fwear by the temple, it is nothing: but whofoever shall fwear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. 17 Ye fools, and blind: for whether is greater, the gold orthe temple that fanctifieth the gold?. 18 And whofoever. fhall swear by the altar, it is nothing: but whofoever fwear JOHN. pofing on them by a formal fhew of Sanctity, and Zeal for their concerns; and thus make ufe of Religion, the moft facred Ty imaginable, as a cloke for your Villany. Grievous Calamities fhall befal you, O ye Lawyers and Pharifees, Hypocrites, who compafs Sea and Land that you may make a convert to the Jewish Religion, who by giving himfelf up to your direction is made worfe than you your felves, and worthy of more fevere Punishments than his very Teachers. Wo unto you, O blird Guides of the Blind, who abfurdly fay that no one is oblig'd to perform his Oath, if he fwears only by the Temple, but that he is under an indif penfable obligation, if he fwears by the Gold of the Temple. O Fools and Blind! perceive ye not that the Temple is more facred than the Gold, which is only fo becaufe confecrated in the Temple? In like manner, you tell men they incur no danger if they perjure themselves, when they fwear only by the Altar, and not by eth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19 Ye fools and blind for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that fanctifieth the gift? 20 Whoso therefore fhall fwear by the altar, fweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whofo thall fwear by the temple, fweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that fhall fwear by heaven, fweareth by the throne of God, and by him that fitteth thereon. 23 Wo unto you scribes and Pharifees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint and anife and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: thefe ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which ftrain at a knat, and fwallow a camel. 25 Wo unto you scribes and Pharifees, hypocrites; for ye by the Offerings upon it. Fools and Blind is not the Altar more facred than the Gifts upon it, that are confecrated by it? But befides, whoever fwears by the Altar, fwears not only by it, but by all that is upon it, and confequently by God alfo, to whom they are confecrated: So alfo he that fwears by the Temple, does at the fame time adjure the Majesty of him that dwells in it. Likewife, he that fwears by Heaven, fwears by the Throne of God, and him that fits thereon. So that whoever forfwears himself any of these ways, must be judg'd to offend against the Majefty of God. Great Punishments remain for you, O ye Lawyers and Pharifees, Hypocrites! who pay Tithes of Herbs, as Mint, Anife, and Cummin, with the utmost nicety, but neglect the most weighty Duties of the Law, fuch as refpect Juftice, Mercy and Faith. Thefe precepts it behoves you first diligently to obferve, and then thofe other alfo. O blind Leaders of the Blind, who (as. the Proverb fays) ftrain at a Gnat, and fwallow a Camel, that is, who exactly obferve Punctilios, and fecurely país by the greatest Offices of Human Society. Ye shall not escape unpunish'd, O ye Lawyers and Pharifees, Hypocrites, who (as they, MATTHEW... CHAP. XXIII. } make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excefs. 26 Thou blind Pharifee, cleanfe firft that which is within the cup and platter, that the outfide of them may be clean alfo. 27 Wo unto you fcribes and Pharifees, hypocrites'; for ye are like unto whited fepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead mens bones, and of all uncleannefs. 28 Even fo ye alfo outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrify and iniquity. 29 Wo unto you scribes and Pharifees, hypocrites; because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the fepulchres of the righteous, 30 And fay, 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 ye be witneffes unto your felves, that ye are ́ they fay) make clean the outfide of the Cup and Platter, that is, make a mighty fhew of Religion and Probity, but have Minds polluted with Intemperance and Avarice. O ye blind Pharifees! as men firft cleanse the infide of their Cups, fo do you first purge your Minds from vitious habits, and then put on the external form of Virtue. O ye Hypocrites! great fhall be your Punishment, who are fo like Sepulchres whitened and adorn'd on the outfide, but contain within nothing but dead mens Bones and Rottennefs. Thus are your minds defil'd with vitious habits, tho you appear to Men holy and religious. God fhall punish you, O ye Lawyers and Pharifees, Hypocrites! in that (as if delighted with the memorial of the Crimes committed by your Ancestors) you repair the Monuments of the Prophets and innocent perfons who were murder'd by them; tho you fay, if you had liv'd in their days in which this Cruelty was acted, you would by no means have confented to it. By these words and Actions you manifeft your felves the Pofterity of thofe the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the meafure of your fathers. 33 Ye ferpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye efcape the damnation of hell? 34 Wherefore behold, I fend unto you prophets, and wife men, and fcribes; and fome of them ye fhall kill and crucify, and fome of them fhall ye fcourge in your fynagogues, and perfecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood fhed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood. of Zacharias, fon of Barachias, whom ye flew between the temple and the altar. 36 Verily I fay unto you, All these things fhall come upon. this generation. those wicked Wretches, by whofe command those most holy perfons were put to death. The time draws near in which you will fill up the measure of your Ancestors, and to their Barbarities add fresh Tragedies of your own. O you who may be most juftly likened to Vipers and venomous Serpents! how can you expect to escape that eternal Punishment which God has denounc'd against you by the Miniftry of John the Baptift, fince you take not the least care to appeafe his Vengeance by a timely Reformation of your Manners? For this very end fhall I fend Prophets, and men skill'd in the Interpretation of the Law, unto you; but fuch is your temper, that fome of them you will crucify, and fcourge others in your Affemblies, and thofe that endeavour to escape your Fury fhall be purfued by you from City to City with the utmoft rage and violence. You fhall therefore fuffer Punishments due to fuch as will be fo far from making any ufe of the repeated Admonitions of God's Meffengers and Prophets, and the many examples of his Severity against Offenders, that they fhall plainly declare their approbation of all the Crimes committed by their Ancestors, by perpetrating others more horrid of their own; and who by one unheard of Barbarity fhall exceed the Guilt they have contracted by their many. Murders, from the Slaughter of Abel the Son of Adam, to that of Zacharias the Son of Barachias, who was flain between the Temple and the Altar. Mistake not as if thefe Punishments were to be deferr'd many years, for God will moft affuredly inflict them on this Generation. O ye Inhabitants of Ferufalem! that are wont to. MATTHEW. MARK. LUKE. JOHN. CHAP. XXIII. 37 O Jerufalem, Jerufalem, thou that killeft the prophets, and stoneft them which are fent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your houfe is left unto you defolate. 39 For I fay unto you, Ye fhall not fee me henceforth, till ye fhall fay, Bleffed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. to kill the Prophets, and ftone thofe that are fent unto you; how often would I have gathered you together to my Difciplin, as a Hen gathers her Chickens under her Wings, and you would not hear? But now your Country fhall be intirely laid wafte: And this I foretel you, that after I fhall be taken up from Earth, you fhall no more fee me till the time wherein you would willingly cry out, if that could avail towards the averting of God's impending Vengeance: May the coming of him that is fent by God be propitious to us! After this Jefus being feated over against the Treafury, took notice of what was caft into it by religious perfons for the ufe of the Temple. Among the reft there was one poor Widow, who put in two small brafs pieces of the value of a farthing; |