Matthew 23:13

Jesus pronounces woe on the leaders for shutting the kingdom of heaven against people, refusing to enter and blocking others. It condemns leaders who hinder rather than help people come to God.

Cross-references · 23

• Luke 11:52Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
• Matt 23:29Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.
• Matt 23:23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
• Matt 23:27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
• Zech 11:17Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
• 2 Tim 4:15You too should beware of him, for he has vigorously opposed our message.
• Acts 8:1And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
• 2 Tim 3:8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.
• Isa 9:14–15So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day.
• Matt 23:13–15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
• Luke 11:43–44Woe to you Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces.
• Acts 4:17–18But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.”
• Matt 21:31–32Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.
• Acts 5:40At this, they yielded to Gamaliel. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.
• Acts 5:28“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us responsible for this man’s blood.”
• Isa 33:14The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”
• Matt 23:25Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
• John 9:22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
• Acts 13:8But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
• John 9:24So a second time they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”
• John 9:34They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.
• 1 Th 2:15–16who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
• John 7:46–52“Never has anyone spoken like this man!” the officers answered.

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.