1. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his followers,
2. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the law of Moses says.
3. So you should obey and follow whatever they tell you, but their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they themselves don't do them.
4. They make strict rules and try to force people to obey them, but they are unwilling to help those who struggle under the weight of their rules.
5. "They do good things so that other people will see them. They make the boxesn of Scriptures that they wear bigger, and they make their special prayer clothes very long.
6. Those Pharisees and teachers of the law love to have the most important seats at feasts and in the synagogues.
7. They love people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces, and they love to have people call them 'Teacher.'
8. "But you must not be called 'Teacher,' because you have only one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters together.
9. And don't call any person on earth 'Father,' because you have one Father, who is in heaven.
10. And you should not be called 'Master,' because you have only one Master, the Christ.
11. Whoever is your servant is the greatest among you.
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.