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"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are!

"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside.

"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You make fine tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who lived good lives;

In a single day the LORD will punish Israel's leaders and its people; he will cut them off, head and tail.

The old and honorable men are the head---and the tail is the prophets whose teachings are lies!

The sinful people of Zion are trembling with fright. They say, "God's judgment is like a fire that burns forever. Can any of us survive a fire like that?"

That worthless shepherd is doomed! He has abandoned his flock. War will totally destroy his power. His arm will wither, and his right eye will go blind."

"How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the reserved seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.

How terrible for you! You are like unmarked graves which people walk on without knowing it."

Which one of the two did what his father wanted?" "The older one," they answered. So Jesus said to them, "I tell you: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you.

For John the Baptist came to you showing you the right path to take, and you would not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. Even when you saw this, you did not later change your minds and believe him.

"How terrible for you teachers of the Law! You have kept the key that opens the door to the house of knowledge; you yourselves will not go in, and you stop those who are trying to go in!"

The guards answered, "Nobody has ever talked the way this man does!"

"Have you ever known one of the authorities or one Pharisee to believe in him?

One of the Pharisees there was Nicodemus, the man who had gone to see Jesus before. He said to the others,

"Well," they answered, "are you also from Galilee? Study the Scriptures and you will learn that no prophet ever comes from Galilee."

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, who had already agreed that anyone who said he believed that Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue.

A second time they called back the man who had been born blind, and said to him, "Promise before God that you will tell the truth! We know that this man who cured you is a sinner."

They answered, "You were born and brought up in sin---and you are trying to teach us?" And they expelled him from the synagogue.

But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn these men never again to speak to anyone in the name of Jesus."

So they called them back in and told them that under no condition were they to speak or to teach in the name of Jesus.

"We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name of this man," he said; "but see what you have done! You have spread your teaching all over Jerusalem, and you want to make us responsible for his death!"

They called the apostles in, had them whipped, and ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus; and then they set them free.

And Saul approved of his murder. That very day the church in Jerusalem began to suffer cruel persecution. All the believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the provinces of Judea and Samaria.

But they were opposed by the magician Elymas (that is his name in Greek), who tried to turn the governor away from the faith.

who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and persecuted us. How displeasing they are to God! How hostile they are to everyone!

They even tried to stop us from preaching to the Gentiles the message that would bring them salvation. In this way they have brought to completion all the sins they have always committed. And now God's anger has at last come down on them!

As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so also these people are opposed to the truth---people whose minds do not function and who are failures in the faith.

Be on your guard against him yourself, because he was violently opposed to our message.