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16 Wo unto you,

ye blind guides, which fay, Whofoever fhall fwear by the temple, it is nothing: but whofoever fhall fwear by the gold of the temple, he is a debter.

17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that fanctifieth the gold.

18 And whofoever fhall fwear by the altar, it is nothing: but whofoever (weareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

19 Ye fools and blind for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that fan&tifieth the gift ?

20 Whofo there

fore fhall fwear by the altar, fweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

21 And whofo

fhall fwear by the temple, fweareth by it, and by him that

dwelleth therein.

22 And he that fhall fwear by heaven, fweareth by the throne of God, and by him that fitteth thereon.

Doctrines and vain Schemes of Religion, and make him even much worse than he was before.

16. Wo unto you, ye ignorant and fuperftitious Guides; who tell the Peo- . ple, that if they fwear only by the Temple, they may be difcharged from the Obligation of that Oath; but if they fwear by the Gold that is confecrated to God in the Temple, that they are then indeed ftrongly obliged by their Oath, and cannot be difcharged.

17. Ye foolish and perverfe Teachers: What an abfurd and fenfelefs diftinction is this! As if the Gold were more facred than the Temple of God, by which the Gold it felf is made holy.

18. Again; ye teach, that if a Man fwears only by the Altar, he may be difcharg'd from the Obligation of that Oath; but if he fwears by the Oblation that is offer'd upon the Altar, that he is then indeed ftrongly obliged by his Oath, and cannot be discharged.

19. Now what a foolish and perverse diftinction is this! As if the Offering, were more Sacred, than the Altar of God, by which the Offering it felf is made Holy.

20. In reality therefore, to fwear by the Altar of God, is the very fame thing as to fwear by the Oblation that is offered thereupon, and by him to whom the Offering is made.

2r. And to fwear by the Temple, is the very fame thing, as to fwear by God whofe Temple it is.

22. And to fwear by Heaven, is the very fame thing, as to fwear by the Throne of God, and confequently by God himself. So that, in fhort, what Things foever you fwear by, 'tis the very fame thing as fwearing by God, whofe Creature that Thing is.

23.

23. Again; wo unto you, hypocritical Teachers, and Pharifees. For ye are fuperftitiously fcrupulous and precife in things of fmaller moment, in little external Rites, in things of trifling nicenefs and difpute: But the things of Great and Eternal Obligation, Juftice and Equity, Mercy and Charity, Faithfulnefs and Truth towards God and Men, these things ye wholly flight and neglect. Whereas on the contrary, though those other smaller things ought not indeed in their due place to pafs altogether unregarded, yet these great and important Duties ought certainly to be Mens principal and first Care.

24. But ye, as I said, (ignorant and perverfe Teachers) ftick at the fmalleft things, and neglect the greatest: Juft

as if a Man fhould refufe to drink his Wine till he had ftrained it, to take out a little Gnat; but fhould without fcruple swallow in it fome other thing ten times as big.

25. Wo unto you,hypocriticalTeachers and Pharifees. For as if a Man fhould be very nice to clean the outfide of his Cups and Dishes, but fhould take no care at all to keep the infide of them free from dirt and filth: Even fo ye are wonderfully diligent, to appear ftrict in the obfervance of the outward and formal Ceremonies of Religion; but the Thoughts of your Hearts and the Secret Actions of your Lives, are full of Iniquity and Uncleannefs.

26. Nay, ye Fools and Blind; But let a Man rather be follicitous in the first place, that the Thoughts of his Heart be fincere and pure, and the Actions of his Life honeft and good; and then his obfervance of external Rites may be agreeable and comely:

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27 Wo unto you fcribes and pharifees, hypocrites; for ye are like unto whited fepulchres, which in

deed

beautiful

appear outward, but are within full of dead mens bones, and of

all uncleannefs.

28 Even fo ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrify and iniquity.

29 Wo unto you fcribes and pharifees, hypocrites;because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the fepulchres of the righteous, 30 And fay, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31 Wherefore ye be witneffes unto your felves, that ye them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your Fathers.

are the children of

Even as the infide of Pots and Dishes
ought always first to be cleanfed; and
then a proportionable care to keep
their outfides clean, may look decent
and neat.

2728. Wo unto you, hypocritical Teachers and Pharifees. Ye may, for your hypocrify, be well compared to the Sepulchres of the Dead. For as *See Luke Graves either appear not at all, or perhaps are covered with Stones whited xi. 44. and cleaned on the outfide; but within they are full of dead Mens Bones and Corruption: So ye outwardly perhaps make no bad appearance before Men, but feem on the contrary to be holy and religious Perfons; but fecretly and in your Hearts ye are full of all manner of hypocrify and wickedness.

29 & 30. Wo unto you, hypocritical Teachers and Pharifees: For, while ye your felves are no lefs wicked than thofe who anciently murdered God's Meffengers and Prophets, ye pretend to have a great Honour for the Memory of thofe Prophets, and to teftify your Refpect for the Holy Men of Old, by building and adorning their Tombs; and ye fay, if you had lived in old time, when your Fathers murdered the Prophets, ye, who are their Children, would not have done fo.

31 & 32. Nay verily, but ye are indeed, as ye fay, the Children of those who killed the Prophets; and ye approve your felves their genuine Offspring, by being like them, and imitating their Wickednefs; nay, notwithstanding your hypocrify, ye even exceed them in malice, and will fill up the meafure of their iniquity.

33. (Ye

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33. (Ye obftinate and incorrigible Generation of Vipers: By your hypocrify indeed, you may here escape the punishment of Men; but how will you avoid the future and eternal Judgment of God?

34. Ye even exceed, I fay, the malice of your Fore-fathers, and will fill up the measure of their Iniquity. For behold, I fend you Prophets and Holy Men, to inftruct you in the Doctrine of true Religion; but ye will flay and crucify them, and beat them even in the places of God's publick Worship, and purfue and perfecute them from one City to another.

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34 Wherefore behold, I fend unto you prophets, and and fome of them ye fhall kill and crucifie, and fome of them fhall ye fcourge in your fynagogues, and perfecute them from city to city:

35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood fhed

35. Wherefore I tell you, the punishment that shall be inflicted by Divine Vengeance upon the Men of this prefent Generation, fhall be as great and dread-upon the earth, from the blood of righteful, as if not only the Forefathers of eous Abel, unto the this People in their feveral Generations, blood of Zacharias, but the Men who are now alive had fon of Barachias, in their own perfons been the Murde- whom ye flew between the temple rers of all the Righteous and Good Men, who have been unjustly martyred fince the time of Adam to this very day.

36. Affuredly I tell you, and repeat it to you again, that fuch a terrible punishment as this, fhall certainly fall upon the Men of this present Generation.

37. O Jerufalem, Jerufalem, thou that waft once the Holy City, and the Beloved of God, but haft fince rejected God, and perfecuted his fervants, and flain his Prophets, and continued obftinately impenitent; how often has God tendered to thee the Offers of Pardon and Mercy, and invited thee to Repentance with all the pity and kindnels, that a tender Father can fhew to

and the altar.

36 Verily I fay unto you, all thele things fhall come upon this generation.

37 O Jerufalem, Jerufalem, thou that killeft the prophets, and ftonelt them which are fent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her

chickens under her

wings,

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Chrift foretells the Destruction of Jerufalem, and the End of the World; and warns all Men to watch.

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I.

AFTER this, fefus departed from

the Temple; and as he was going out, his Difciples, who had heard him speak of the Defolation of the City and Temple, defired him to obferve what a ftately and beautiful Structure the Temple was; infinuating as if they thought it pity, that so noble a Building fhould be fo miferably destroyed.

2. But Jefus anfwered: Do ye admire these things, and look upon them with pity? I tell you again, they fhall all be deftroyed with fuch a compleat and utter Defolation, that there fhall not be left fo much as one Stone upon another, which fhall not be caft down.

3. And when he was come to the Mount of Olives, and was fet down there, his Difciples came to him privately,

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