Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
In Matthew 23, Jesus delivers a series of sharp public rebukes to the Pharisees and teachers of the law — the most respected religious leaders of his day. They were deeply serious about their faith, meticulously keeping religious rules and actively working to win converts to their way of life. But Jesus exposes a painful irony: their missionary zeal was actually leading people further from God rather than toward him. The phrase "son of hell" is a Semitic expression meaning someone fully shaped by what is opposed to God. Jesus is not condemning the desire to share faith — he is condemning the kind of religious influence that replicates corruption and hypocrisy rather than genuine life with God.
Jesus, this verse is hard to sit with because I don't want to see myself in it. Search me — show me where my faith has been about performance or appearances rather than you. Let what I pass on to others be life, not a heavier burden. Amen.
It would be easier if Jesus only confronted apathy. But this verse reveals something more unsettling — that religious zeal, weaponized by hypocrisy, can do more damage than indifference ever could. The Pharisees weren't lazy. They crossed seas. They were passionate, organized, and persuasive. And the person they recruited walked away shaped in their image — not in God's image, but in the image of a system that had long confused rule-keeping for actually knowing God. The worst spiritual harm, Jesus suggests here, often comes wearing the most convincing religious clothing. This verse is worth sitting with uncomfortably, because none of us think we're the Pharisees. But the question it quietly asks is this: what are you actually passing on? Every parent, mentor, pastor, or friend who talks about faith is forming someone. If the version of faith you're handing down is primarily about performance, appearances, or tribal belonging rather than an actual relationship with a living God, Jesus' words land close to home. The zeal isn't the problem — it's what the zeal is in service of. The most important thing you can give someone isn't your convictions. It's a faith that genuinely knows the God behind them.
Why do you think Jesus reserved some of his harshest words for the most religiously dedicated people of his time, rather than for those who were openly irreligious or morally broken?
Have you ever encountered a version of faith — in a church, a family, or a community — that seemed to make people harder and more judgmental rather than more like Jesus? What was that experience like?
Is it possible to be genuinely passionate about sharing faith and still lead people away from God? What does that look like in practice today?
How does this verse challenge you to think about the way your example, your words, and your faith affect the people around you — especially those who are younger or newer in faith?
What would it look like for you to invest in someone's spiritual life in a way that points them toward Christ himself, rather than toward a church culture, a set of rules, or your own example?
Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.
Luke 6:42
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Matthew 7:29
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
John 8:44
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Matthew 5:22
The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
Luke 6:40
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Matthew 23:33
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Matthew 5:29
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Matthew 23:13
"Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte (convert to Judaism), and when he becomes a convert, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
AMP
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
ESV
'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
NASB
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
NIV
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
NKJV
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!
NLT
"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.
MSG