16 Wo unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whofo ever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing: but whosoever shall fwear by the gold of the temple, he is a debter. 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that fanctifieth the gold. 18 And whofoever shall swear by the al tar, it is nothing: but whosoever swear 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 there fore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the Doctrines and vain Schemes of Religion, and make him even much worse than he was before. 16. Wo unto you, ye ignorant and fuperftitious Guides; who tell the Peo- . ple, that if they swear only by the Temple, they may be discharged from the Obligation of that Oath; but if they swear by the Gold that is confecrated to God in the Temple, that they are then indeed strongly obliged by their Oath, and cannot be difcharged. 17. Ye foolish and perverse Teachers: What an absurd and senseless diftinction is this! As if the Gold were more facred than the Temple of God, by which the Gold it felf is made holy. 18. Again; ye teach, that if a Man swears only by the Altar, he may be difcharg'd from the Obligation of that Oath, but if he swears by the Oblation that is offer'd upon the Altar, that he is then indeed strongly obliged by his Oath, and cannot be difcharged. 19. Now what a foolish and perverfe distinction is this! As if the Offering, were more Sacred, than the Altar of God, by which the Offering it felf is made Holy. 20. In reality therefore, to swear by the Altar of God, is the very fame thing as to swear by the Oblation that is offered thereupon, and by him to whom the Offering is made. 21. And to swear by the Temple, is the very fame thing, as to swear by temple, sweareth by God whose Temple it is. it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the 22. And to fwear by Heaven, is the very fame thing, as to swear by the Throne of God, and confequently by God himself. So that, in short, what Things foever you swear by, 'tis the very fame thing as swearing by God, whose Creature that Thing is. throne of God, and by him that fitteth thereon. 23. 23. Again; wo unto you, hypocritical Teachers, and Pharifees. For ye are superftitioufly scrupulous and precise in things of smaller moment, in little external Rites, in things of trifling niceness and dispute: But the things of Great and Eternal Obligation, Justice and Equity, Mercy and Charity, Faithfulness and Truth towards God and Men, these things ye wholly flight and neglect. Whereas on the contrary, though those other smaller things ought not indeed in their due place to pass altogether unregarded, yet these great and important Duties ought certainly to be Mens principal and first Care. 24. But ye, as I faid, (ignorant and perverse Teachers) stick at the smallest things, and neglect the greatest: Just as if a Man should refuse to drink his Wine till he had ftrained it, to take out a little Gnat; but should without scruple swallow in it fome other thing ten times as big. 25. Wo unto you, hypocritical Teachers and Pharifees. For as if a Man should be very nice to clean the outfide of his Cups and Dishes, but should take no care at all to keep the inside of them free from dirt and filth: Even so ye are wonderfully diligent, to appear ftrict in the observance of the outward and formal Ceremonies of Religion; but the Thoughts of your Hearts and the Secret Actions of your Lives, are full of Iniquity and Uncleanness. 26. Nay, ye Fools and Blind; But let a Man rather be follicitous in the first place, that the Thoughts of his Heart be fincere and pure, and the Actions of his Life honest and good; and then his obfervance of external Rites may be agreeable and comely : 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Wo Even as the infide of Pots and Dishes 27 Wo unto you scribes 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 uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also 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 fry, 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 witnesses unto your selves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your Fathers. * See Luke 27 & 28. Wo unto you, hypocritical Teachers and Pharifees. Ye may, for your hypocrify, be well compared to the Sepulchres of the Dead. For as Graves either * appear not at all, or perhaps are covered with Stones whited xi. 44. and cleaned on the outside; but within they are full of dead Mens Bones and Corruption: So ye outwardly perhaps make no bad appearance before Men, but feem on the contrary to be holy and religious Perfons; but secretly and in your Hearts ye are full of all manner of hypocrify and wickedness. 29 & 30. Wo unto you, hypocritical Teachers and Pharifees: For, while ye your selves are no less wicked than those who anciently murdered God's Messengers and Prophets, ye pretend to have a great Honour for the Memory of those Prophets, and to testify your Respect for the Holy Men of Old, by building and adorning their Tombs; and ye fay, if you had lived in old time, when your Fathers murdered the Prophets, ye, who are their Children, would not have done fo. 31 & 32. Nay verily, but ye are indeed, as ye say, the Children of those who killed the Prophets; and ye approve your selves their genuine Offspring, by being like them, and imitating their Wickedness; nay, notwithstanding your hypocrify, ye even exceed them in malice, and will fill up the measure of their iniquity. 33. (Ye 33. (Ye obstinate and incorrigible Generation of Vipers: By your hypocrify indeed, you may here escape the punishment of Men; but how will you avoid the future and eternal Judgment of God? 34. Ye even exceed, I say, the malice of your Fore-fathers, and will fill up the measure of their Iniquity. For behold, I fend you Prophets and Holy Men, to instruct you in the Doctrine of true Religion; but ye will flay and crucify them, and beat them even in the places of God's publick Worship, and pursue and perfecute them from one City to another. 35. Wherefore I tell you, the punishment that shall be inflicted by Divine Vengeance upon the Men of this prefent Generation, shall be as great and dreadful, as if not only the Forefathers of this People in their several Generations, but the Men who are now alive had in their own persons been the Murderers of all the Righteous and Good Men, who have been unjustly martyred fince the time of Adam to this very day. 33 Ye ferpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape hell? the damnation of 34 Wherefore behold, I fend unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucifie, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteeous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias, fon of Barachias, whom ye flew be tween the temple and the altar. 36 Verily I fay unto you, all these 36. Affuredly I tell you, and repeat it to you again, that such a terrible punishment as this, shall certainly fall things shall come upupon the Men of this present Generation. 37. O Ferufalem, Jerufalem, thou that wast once the Holy City, and the Beloved of God, but haft fince rejected God, and perfecuted his fervants, and flain his Prophets, and continued obstinately impenitent; how often has God tendered to thee the Offers of Pardon and Mercy, and invited thee to Repentance with all the pity and kindnefs, that a tender Father can shew to on this generation. 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 Chrift foretells the Destruction of Jerufalem, and the End of the World; and warns all Men to watch. AND Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I fay unto you, There shall not be left here one ftone upon another that shall not be thrown down. 3 fat upon the mount of Olives, the dif And as he I. AFTER this, Jefus departed from the Temple; and as he was going out, his Disciples, who had heard him speak of the Desolation of the City and Temple, defired him to observe what a stately and beautiful Structure the Temple was; infinuating as if they thought it pity, that so noble a Building should be fo miferably destroyed. 2. But Jefus answered: Do ye admire these things, and look upon them with pity ? I tell you again, they shall all be destroyed with such a compleat and utter Desolation, that there shall not be left fo much as one Stone upon another, which shall not be caft down. |