International Children’s Bible

Matthew 23:14-17 International Children’s Bible (ICB)

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.