Matthew 23:31

American Standard Version

Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

King James Version (1611)
Wherefore ye bee witnesses vnto your selues, that yee are the children of them which killed the Prophets.

King James Version
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

English Standard Version
Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

New American Standard Bible
"So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

New Century Version
But you give proof that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

Amplified Bible
"So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Legacy Standard Bible
So you bear witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Berean Standard Bible
So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Contemporary English Version
But you prove that you really are the relatives of the ones who killed the prophets.

Complete Jewish Bible
In this you testify against yourselves that you are worthy descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

Darby Translation
So that ye bear witness of yourselves that ye are sons of those who slew the prophets:

Easy-to-Read Version
So you give proof that you are descendants of those who killed the prophets.

Geneva Bible (1587)
So then ye be witnesses vnto your selues, that ye are the children of them that murthered the Prophets.

George Lamsa Translation
Now you testify concerning yourselves, that you are the children of those who killed the prophets.

Good News Translation
So you actually admit that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets!

Lexham English Bible
Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets!

Literal Translation
So you witness to yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Bible in Basic English
So that you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who put the prophets to death.

Hebrew Names Version
Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are sons of those who killed the prophets.

International Standard Version
Therefore, you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.Acts 7:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 2:15;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
thus bearing witness against yourselves, that you are the sons of them who killed the prophets.

Murdock Translation
Wherefore ye are witnesses, against yourselves, that ye are the children of them that killed the prophets.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And so ye be witnesses vnto your selues, that ye are the chyldren of them which kylled the prophetes.

English Revised Version
Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets.

World English Bible
Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are sons of those who killed the prophets.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Wherefore ye testify against yourselves, that ye are the sons of them who killed the prophets.

Weymouth's New Testament
"So that you bear witness against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the Prophets.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And so ye ben in witnessyng to you silf, that ye ben the sones of hem that slowen the prophetis.

Update Bible Version
Therefore you witness to yourselves, that you are sons of those that slew the prophets.

Webster's Bible Translation
Wherefore ye are witnesses to yourselves, that ye are the children of them who killed the prophets.

New English Translation
By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

New King James Version
"Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

New Living Translation
"But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

New Life Bible
In this way, you are showing that you are the sons of those who killed the early preachers.

New Revised Standard
Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So that ye bear witness against yourselves, that ye are, sons, of them who murdered the prophets.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets.

Revised Standard Version
Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
So then ye be witnesses vnto youre selfes that ye are the chyldren of them which killed the prophetes.

Young's Literal Translation
So that ye testify to yourselves, that ye are sons of them who did murder the prophets;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore ye be wytnesses vnto youre selues, that ye are the children of them, which slew the prophetes.

Mace New Testament (1729)
whereby you yourselves own that ye are indeed the children of those who killed the prophets,

Simplified Cowboy Version
But you are proof that you are the sons of those posse riders.

Contextual Overview

¹³ But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Ye fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that hath sanctified the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor. Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel! Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell? Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. ¹⁴ Then spake Jesus to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat: all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not. Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. ¹⁵ Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. ¹⁶ Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. ¹⁷ Ye fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that hath sanctified the gold? ¹⁸ And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor. ¹⁹ Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? ²⁰ He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. ²¹ And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. ²² And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

witnesses: Joshua 24:22, Job 15:5, Job 15:6, Psalms 64:8, Luke 19:22

that: Acts 7:51, Acts 7:52, 1 Thessalonians 2:15, 1 Thessalonians 2:16

Reciprocal: Numbers 12:6 - a prophet Numbers 32:14 - an increase Numbers 35:33 - it defileth 2 Kings 21:16 - Manasseh Job 21:19 - for his Psalms 69:27 - Add Psalms 78:8 - as their Psalms 109:14 - Let the Isaiah 30:9 - this is Isaiah 59:7 - and they Isaiah 65:7 - Your iniquities Jeremiah 26:8 - the priests Lamentations 4:13 - that Daniel 9:16 - for the Hosea 5:5 - testify Hosea 10:9 - did Zechariah 11:3 - a voice Matthew 5:12 - for so Matthew 21:35 - General Luke 3:20 - General Luke 6:23 - for in Romans 9:22 - fitted Hebrews 6:6 - they crucify

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves,.... Or "against yourselves", as the Syriac reads; for what they said was a plain acknowledgment, and a full confession, what their fathers had done, and whose offspring they were; and from whom better things were not to be expected; since they were their fathers' own children, and of the same temper and disposition with them:

that ye are the children of them that killed the prophets. They plainly owned, that their fathers killed the prophets, and that they descended from them; though they meant not so much to reproach, their ancestors, as to give themselves a greater character; yet it did not with those, that knew them; not with our Lord: for as their own words testified against them, that they were a seed of evildoers; their practices showed them to be of the same spirit and principles with their progenitors.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ye be witnesses unto yourselves - The emphasis, here, lies in the words “to yourselves.” It is an appeal to their conscience. It was not by their building the tombs that they were witnesses that they were the children of those who killed the prophets; but that, in spite of all this pretence of piety, under all this cloak of profession, they knew in their consciences, and were witnesses to themselves, that it was mere hypocrisy, and that they really approved the conduct of those who slew the prophets.

Children of them ... - Resembling them; approving their conduct; inheriting their feelings. See the notes at Matthew 1:1. They not only showed that they were descended from them, but that they possessed their spirit, and that, in similar circumstances, they would have done as they did.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 31. Ye be witnesses — Ye acknowledge that ye are the children of those murderers, and ye are about to give full proof that ye are not degenerated.

There are many who think that, had they lived in the time of our Lord, they would not have acted towards him as the Jews did. But we can scarcely believe that they who reject his Gospel, trample under foot his precepts, do despite to the Spirit of his grace, love sin, and hate his followers, would have acted otherwise to him than the murdering Jews, had they lived in the same times.