All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do.
World English Bible
Matthew 23:3
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
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WEB World English Bible Public Domain ✓ - Modern English
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- LSV Literal Standard Version A modern, highly literal translation (2020) · CC BY-SA 4.0
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- BBE Bible in Basic English A 20th-century translation using a simple, limited vocabulary · Public Domain
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- MSB Majority Standard Bible A modern translation of the Majority/Byzantine text — the Berean counterpart to the critical-text BSB · Public Domain
- TCENT Text-Critical English New Testament A modern reasoned-eclectic New Testament (2022) · CC BY 4.0
- F35 Family 35 New Testament Wilbur Pickering's Byzantine-priority New Testament, with text-critical commentary notes · CC BY-SA 4.0
- OJB Orthodox Jewish Bible A Messianic-Jewish English Bible using transliterated Hebrew names and terms · CC BY 4.0
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- KJV King James Version Public Domain
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- GNV Geneva Bible (1599) The Reformation-era study Bible that preceded the King James · Public Domain
- DRA Douay-Rheims (1899) An English Catholic translation from the Latin Vulgate · Public Domain
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- DBY Darby Bible A literal 19th-century translation by J. N. Darby · Public Domain
- WBT Webster's Bible Noah Webster's 1833 modernization of the King James Version · Public Domain
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- LEESER Isaac Leeser Tanakh (1853) The first Jewish English translation of the Hebrew Bible (1853, Old Testament only) · Public Domain
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Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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Should we let others see our good works?
Matthew 5:16 commands disciples to let their light shine before others *hopōs idōsin hymōn ta kala erga* — 'so that they may see your good works' — and 1 Peter 2:12 echoes this in nearly identical language. Just one chapter later, Matthew 6:1 warns *prosechete tēn dikaiosynēn hymōn mē poiein emprosthen tōn anthrōpōn pros to theathēnai autois* — 'beware of practicing your righteousness before others to be seen by them.'
Critical scholarship: Genuinely disputed among scholars.
Law & ethics
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
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Should we do what the Pharisees say to do?
Matthew 23:1-3 has Jesus tell the crowds that because the scribes and Pharisees 'sit in Moses' seat,' the listeners should 'observe and do' whatever the Pharisees tell them — just don't imitate their behavior. Matthew 16:12, by contrast, has the disciples finally understand Jesus' warning that they should beware 'the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.'
Critical scholarship: Genuinely disputed among scholars.
Law & ethics
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Other verses examined for the same kind of question or claim
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
Cite this page
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Matthew 23:3 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/matthew/23/3?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).