For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Parallel translations
- WEB For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
- BSB For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
- NKJV For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
- NASB “For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
- NLT “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Unless one's righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, one cannot enter the kingdom. It demands a righteousness deeper than mere external observance.
Overview
The Pharisees prided themselves on meticulous outward law-keeping, yet Jesus says true kingdom righteousness goes deeper, reaching the heart. Such righteousness cannot be self-produced; it is ultimately the righteousness God works in His people and the righteousness of Christ credited to them. The verse exposes the inadequacy of mere externals and drives us to grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Rom 10:2–3For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
- Phil 3:9And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
- Rom 9:30–32What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
- Luke 16:14–15And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
- Matt 23:2–5Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
- John 3:3–5Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
- Matt 23:23–28Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
- Heb 12:14Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
- 2 Cor 5:17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
- Matt 7:21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
- Rev 21:27And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
- Luke 11:39–40And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
- Luke 20:46–47Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;
- Matt 3:10And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
- Mark 10:15Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
- Mark 10:25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
- Matt 18:5And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
- Luke 18:17Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.
- Luke 11:44Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.
- Luke 18:24–25And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
- Luke 12:1In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
- Luke 18:10–14Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 5:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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