John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing. He said to them,“ You are like a nest of poisonous snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming of God’s anger?

约翰看见许多法利赛人和撒都该人也来受洗，就对他们说：“毒蛇的种类！谁指示你们逃避将来的忿怒呢？

约翰看见许多法利赛人和撒都该人也来受洗，就对他们说：“毒蛇的孽种啊，谁指示你们逃避那将要来的愤怒呢？

约翰看见许多法利赛人和撒都该人也来受洗，就对他们说：“毒蛇的孽种啊，谁指示你们逃避那将要来的愤怒呢？

约翰看见很多法利赛人和撒都该人也来受洗，就对他们说：“你们这些毒蛇的后代！谁指示你们逃避那将临的烈怒呢？

约翰看见许多法利赛人和撒都该人来到他施洗的地方，就对他们说：“毒蛇所生的啊，谁指示你们逃避那将要来的忿怒呢？

约翰看见许多法利赛人和撒都该人也来要受他的洗礼，就对他们说：“你们这些毒蛇的子孙！谁指示你们逃避那将要来临的震怒呢？

約翰看見許多法利賽人和撒都該人也來受洗，就對他們說：「毒蛇的種類！誰指示你們逃避將來的忿怒呢？

約翰看見許多法利賽人和撒都該人也來受洗，就對他們說：「毒蛇的孽種啊，誰指示你們逃避那將要來的憤怒呢？

約翰看見許多法利賽人和撒都該人也來受洗，就對他們說：「毒蛇的孽種啊，誰指示你們逃避那將要來的憤怒呢？

約翰看見很多法利賽人和撒都該人也來受洗，就對他們說：「你們這些毒蛇的後代！誰指示你們逃避那將臨的烈怒呢？

約翰看見許多法利賽人和撒都該人來到他施洗的地方，就對他們說：“毒蛇所生的啊，誰指示你們逃避那將要來的忿怒呢？

約翰看見許多法利賽人和撒都該人來、要受洗，便對他們說：『毒蛇的種啊，誰指示你們逃避將來的上帝義怒呢？

約翰看見許多法利賽人和撒都該人也來要受他的洗禮，就對他們說：「你們這些毒蛇的子孫！誰指示你們逃避那將要來臨的震怒呢？

約翰見法利賽撒都該人多就其洗、謂之曰、蝮類乎、誰示爾避將來之怒乎、

約翰見𠵽唎㘔［口撒］吐𡀲人、多就己受洗、謂之曰、蝮類乎、誰示爾避後日之刑乎、

約翰見法利賽與撒度該教人、亦多就己受洗、謂之曰、蝮類乎、誰示爾避將來之怒乎、

如望見法利塞及撒杜責之徒、亦群來受洗、訓之曰：『蝮種、誰警爾以避將臨之怒耶？

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them:“ You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them,“ You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them.“ You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed.“ Who warned you to flee the coming wrath?

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them,“ Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them,“ You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them,“ Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the place of his baptism, he said to them,“ Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them,“ You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them,“ You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

You nest of poisonous snakes! How can you who are evil say anything good? Your mouths say everything that is in your hearts.

“ You nest of poisonous snakes! How will you escape from being sentenced to hell?

They tell about how you are waiting for his Son to come from heaven. God raised him from the dead. He is Jesus. He saves us from God’s anger, and his anger is sure to come.

God shows his anger from heaven. It is against all the godless and evil things people do. They are so evil that they say no to the truth.

That same day the Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead.

“ How terrible it will be for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter. And you will not let those enter who are trying to.

“ People of Judah, run away from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of the sins of its people. It is time for me to pay them back. I will punish them for what they have done.

How can you possibly not understand? I wasn’t talking to you about bread. But watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”Then the disciples understood that Jesus was not telling them to watch out for the yeast used in bread. He was warning them against what the Pharisees and Sadducees taught.

The blood of Christ has made us right with God. So we are even more sure that Jesus will save us from God’s anger.

Who can I speak to? Who can I warn? Who will even listen to me? Their ears are closed so they can’t hear. The Lord’ s message displeases them. They don’t take any delight in it.

“ Be careful,” Jesus said to them.“ Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Suppose I say to a sinful person,‘ You can be sure you will die.’ And you do not warn them. You do not try to get them to change their evil ways in order to save their life. Then that sinful person will die because they have sinned. And I will hold you responsible for their death.But suppose you do warn that sinful person. And they do not turn away from their sin or their evil ways. Then they will die because they have sinned. But you will have saved yourself.“ Or suppose a godly person turns away from their godliness and does what is evil. And suppose I put something in their way that will trip them up. Then they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The godly things that person did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for their death.But suppose you do warn a godly person not to sin. And they do not sin. Then you can be sure that they will live because they listened to your warning. And you will have saved yourself.”

The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands to make them“ clean.” That’s what the elders teach.When they come from the market, they do not eat unless they wash. And they follow many other teachings. For example, they wash cups, pitchers, and kettles in a special way.So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law questioned Jesus.“ Why don’t your disciples live by what the elders teach?” they asked.“ Why do they eat their food with‘ unclean’ hands?”

Here is what I tell you. You must be more godly than the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. If you are not, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Then the Lord spoke to him.“ You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish,” he said.“ But inside you are full of greed and evil.You foolish people! Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside also?Give freely to poor people to show what is inside you. Then everything will be clean for you.“ How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give God a tenth of your garden plants, such as mint and rue. But you have forgotten to be fair and to love God. You should have practiced the last things without failing to do the first.“ How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the most important seats in the synagogues. You love having people greet you with respect in the market.“ How terrible for you! You are like graves that are not marked. People walk over them without knowing it.”

The Pharisees went out. They made plans to trap Jesus with his own words.

Some of the believers were Pharisees. They stood up and said,“ The Gentiles must be circumcised. They must obey the law of Moses.”

So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning you. Night and day I warned each of you with tears.

You belong to your father, the devil. You want to obey your father’s wishes. From the beginning, the devil was a murderer. He has never obeyed the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his natural language. He does this because he is a liar. He is the father of lies.

Noah had faith. So he built an ark to save his family. He built it because of his great respect for God. God had warned him about things that could not yet be seen. Because of his faith Noah showed the world that it was guilty. Because of his faith he was considered right with God.

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this. They asked,“ What? Are we blind too?”

He sees the enemies coming against the land. He blows a trumpet to warn the people.Someone hears the trumpet. But they do not pay any attention to the warning. The enemies come and kill them. Then what happens to them will be their own fault.They heard the sound of the trumpet. But they did not pay any attention to the warning. So what happened to them was their own fault. If they had paid attention, they would have saved themselves.But suppose the guard sees the enemies coming. And he does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. The enemies come and kill one of them. Then their life has been taken away from them because they sinned. But I will hold the guard responsible for their death.’“ Son of man, I have appointed you as a prophet to warn the people of Israel. So listen to my message. Give them a warning from me.

The Pharisees heard that the Sadducees weren’t able to answer Jesus. So the Pharisees got together.

Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees. They asked the guards,“ Why didn’t you bring him in?”“ No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.“ You mean he has fooled you also?” the Pharisees asked.“ Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him?No! But this mob knows nothing about the law. There is a curse on them.”

The Pharisees who had been sent

Even from birth those who are evil go down the wrong path. From the day they are born they go the wrong way and spread lies.Their words are like the poison of a snake. They are like the poison of a cobra that has covered up its ears.It won’t listen to a snake charmer’s tune, even if the charmer plays very well.God, break the teeth in the mouths of those sinners! Lord, tear out the sharp teeth of those lions!

The high priest and all his companions were Sadducees. They were very jealous of the apostles.

The Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead.

Here is how you can tell the difference between God’s children and the devil’s children. Anyone who doesn’t do what is right isn’t God’s child. And anyone who doesn’t love their brother or sister isn’t God’s child either.

Later the religious leaders sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus. They wanted to trap him with his own words.

But the Pharisees and the authorities on the law did not accept for themselves God’s purpose. So they had not been baptized by John.

The Lord says,“ Come here, you children of women who practice evil magic! You are children of prostitutes and those who commit adultery.Who are you making fun of? Who are you laughing at? Who are you sticking your tongue out at? You are people who refuse to obey me. You are just a bunch of liars!

They will be destroyed forever. They will be shut out of heaven. They will never see the glory of the Lord’s strength.All these things will happen when he comes. On that day his glory will be seen in his holy people. Everyone who has believed will be amazed when they see him. This includes you, because you believed the witness we gave you.

They have known me for a long time. So if they wanted to, they could tell you how I have lived. I have lived by the rules of the Pharisees. Those rules are harder to obey than those of any other Jewish group.

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed.‘ God, I thank you that I am not like other people,’ he said.‘ I am not like robbers or those who do other evil things. I am not like those who commit adultery. I am not even like this tax collector.

I will make you and the woman hate each other. Your children and her children will be enemies. Her son will crush your head. And you will bite his heel.”

The plans they make are like the eggs of poisonous snakes. Anyone who eats those eggs will die. When one of them is broken, a snake comes out.

They called out to the mountains and rocks,“ Fall on us! Hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne! Hide us from the anger of the Lamb!The great day of their anger has come. Who can live through it?”

The Pharisees loved money. They heard all that Jesus said and made fun of him.

The great dragon was thrown down to the earth, and his angels with him. The dragon is that old serpent called the devil, or Satan. He leads the whole world astray.Then I heard a loud voice in heaven. It said,“ Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God have come. The authority of his Messiah has come. Satan, who brings charges against our brothers and sisters, has been thrown down. He brings charges against them in front of our God day and night.

John spoke to the crowds coming to be baptized by him. He said,“ You are like a nest of poisonous snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming of God’s anger?Live in a way that shows you have turned away from your sins. And don’t start saying to yourselves,‘ Abraham is our father.’ I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones.The ax is already lying at the roots of the trees. All the trees that don’t produce good fruit will be cut down. They will be thrown into the fire.”

Paul knew that some of them were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees. So he called out to the members of the Sanhedrin.“ My brothers,” he said,“ I am a Pharisee. I come from a family of Pharisees. I believe that people will rise from the dead. That’s why I am on trial.”When he said this, the Pharisees and the Sadducees started to argue. They began to take sides.The Sadducees say that people will not rise from the dead. They don’t believe there are angels or spirits either. But the Pharisees believe all these things.People were causing trouble and making a lot of noise. Some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up. They argued strongly.“ We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said.“ What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

Peter and John were speaking to the people. The priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees came up to the apostles.They were very upset by what the apostles were teaching the people. The apostles were saying that people can be raised from the dead. They said this can happen because Jesus rose from the dead.

Then the disciples came to him. They asked,“ Do you know that the Pharisees were angry when they heard this?”

The Pharisees heard this. So they said,“ This fellow drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.”

“ Be careful,” Jesus warned them.“ Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees. And watch out for the yeast of Herod.”

When God made his promise, he gave his word. He did this so we would have good reason not to give up. Instead, we have run to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope is set before us in God’s promise. So God made his promise and gave his word. These two things can’t change. He couldn’t lie about them.