12. Whoever makes himself great will be made humble. Whoever makes himself humble will be made great.
13. “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the door for people to enter the kingdom of heaven. You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop others who are trying to enter.
14. [How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You take away widows’ houses, and you make long prayers so that people can see you. So you will have a worse punishment.]
15. “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You travel across land and sea to find one person who will follow your ways. When you find that person, you make him more fit for hell than you are.
16. “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You guide the people, but you are blind. You say, ‘If anyone swears by the Temple when he makes a promise, that means nothing. But if anyone swears by the gold that is in the Temple, then he must keep that promise.’
17. You are blind fools! Which is greater: the gold or the Temple? The Temple makes that gold holy.
18. And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar when he makes a promise, that means nothing. But if he swears by the gift on the altar, then he must keep his promise.’
19. You are blind! Which is greater: the gift or the altar? The altar makes the gift holy.
20. The person who swears by the altar is really using the altar and also everything on the altar.
21. And the person who uses the Temple to make a promise is really using the Temple and also everything in the Temple.