How terrible for the world that there are things that make people lose their faith! Such things will always happen---but how terrible for the one who causes them!

"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock the door to the Kingdom of heaven in people's faces, but you yourselves don't go in, nor do you allow in those who are trying to enter!

"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are!

Blind fools! Which is more important, the gold or the Temple which makes the gold holy?

How blind you are! Which is the more important, the gift or the altar which makes the gift holy?

and when he swears by the Temple, he is swearing by it and by God, who lives there;

"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practice, without neglecting the others.

"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of your cup and plate, while the inside is full of what you have gotten by violence and selfishness.

"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside.

"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You make fine tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who lived good lives;

The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say he will, but how terrible for that man who will betray the Son of Man! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!"

He has seen you do the things he hates. He has seen you go after pagan gods on the hills and in the fields, like a man lusting after his neighbor's wife or like a stallion after a mare. People of Jerusalem, you are doomed! When will you ever be pure?

"How terrible for you Pharisees! You give to God one tenth of the seasoning herbs, such as mint and rue and all the other herbs, but you neglect justice and love for God. These you should practice, without neglecting the others.

How terrible for you! You are like unmarked graves which people walk on without knowing it."

Jesus answered, "How terrible also for you teachers of the Law! You put onto people's backs loads which are hard to carry, but you yourselves will not stretch out a finger to help them carry those loads.

You yourselves admit, then, that you approve of what your ancestors did; they murdered the prophets, and you build their tombs.

So the people of this time will be punished for the murder of all the prophets killed since the creation of the world,

"How terrible for you teachers of the Law! You have kept the key that opens the door to the house of knowledge; you yourselves will not go in, and you stop those who are trying to go in!"

How terrible for them! They have followed the way that Cain took. For the sake of money they have given themselves over to the error that Balaam committed. They have rebelled as Korah rebelled, and like him they are destroyed.

At once Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida, on the other side of the lake, while he sent the crowd away.

They came to Bethsaida, where some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him.

The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. He took them with him, and they went off by themselves to a town named Bethsaida.

(Philip was from Bethsaida, the town where Andrew and Peter lived.)

They went to Philip (he was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and said, "Sir, we want to see Jesus."

On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I tell you that there is something here greater than Jonah!

On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon!

If I sent you to great nations that spoke difficult languages you didn't understand, they would listen to you.

But none of the people of Israel will be willing to listen; they will not even listen to me. All of them are stubborn and defiant.

The next Sabbath nearly everyone in the town came to hear the word of the Lord.

But Paul and Barnabas spoke out even more boldly: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we will leave you and go to the Gentiles.

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the Lord's message; and those who had been chosen for eternal life became believers.

So they left, disagreeing among themselves, after Paul had said this one thing: "How well the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your ancestors!

because this people's minds are dull, and they have stopped up their ears and closed their eyes. Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand, and they would turn to me, says God, and I would heal them.' "

So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes.

"I am telling you the truth," replied Jesus, "that no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.

Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must all be born again.

"How can this be?" asked Nicodemus.