"Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It's on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.
Parallel Translations
Christian Standard Bible®
“Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell?
King James Version (1611)
Yee serpents, yee generation of vipers, How can yee escape the damnation of hell?
King James Version
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
English Standard Version
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
New American Standard Bible
"You snakes, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
New Century Version
"You are snakes! A family of poisonous snakes! How are you going to escape God's judgment?
Amplified Bible
"You serpents, you spawn of vipers, how can you escape the penalty of hell?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
Legacy Standard Bible
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
Berean Standard Bible
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
Contemporary English Version
You are nothing but snakes and the children of snakes! How can you escape going to hell?
Complete Jewish Bible
"You snakes! Sons of snakes! How can you escape being condemned to Gei-Hinnom?
Darby Translation
Serpents, offspring of vipers, how should ye escape the judgment of hell?
Easy-to-Read Version
"You are snakes! You are from a family of poisonous snakes! You will not escape God. You will all be judged guilty and go to hell!
Geneva Bible (1587)
O serpents, the generation of vipers, howe should ye escape the damnation of hell!
George Lamsa Translation
O you serpents, and seed of scorpions! how can you flee from the judgment of hell?
Good News Translation
You snakes and children of snakes! How do you expect to escape from being condemned to hell?
Lexham English Bible
Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How will you escape from the condemnation to hell?
Literal Translation
Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How shall you escape the judgment of Hell?
American Standard Version
Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?
Bible in Basic English
You snakes, offspring of snakes, how will you be kept from the punishment of hell?
Hebrew Names Version
You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehinnom?
International Standard Version You snakes, you children of serpents! How can you escape being condemned to hell?Gehenna; a Gk. transliteration of the Heb. for
Valley of Hinnom">[fn]Matthew 3:7;
12:34;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
Serpents, birth of vipers ! how will you escape from the judgment of gihana ?
Murdock Translation
Ye serpents, ye race of vipers: how can ye escape the condemnation of hell?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Ye serpentes, ye generation of vipers, howe wyll ye escape the dampnation of hell?
English Revised Version
Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?
World English Bible
You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Weymouth's New Testament
O serpents, O vipers' brood, how are you to escape condemnation to Gehenna?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Ye eddris, and eddris briddis, hou schulen ye fle fro the doom of helle?
Update Bible Version
You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how shall you escape the judgment of hell?
Webster's Bible Translation
[Ye] serpents, [ye] generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
New English Translation
You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
New King James Version
Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
New Living Translation
Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?
New Life Bible
You snakes! You family of snakes! How can you be kept from hell?
New Revised Standard
You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Serpents! broods of vipers! how should ye flee from the judgment of gehenna?
Douay-Rheims Bible
You serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell?
Revised Standard Version
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Yee serpentes and generacion of vipers how shuld ye scape ye dapnacio of hell?
Young's Literal Translation
`Serpents! brood of vipers! how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
O ye serpentes, O ye generacion of vypers, how wyl ye escape the damnacion of Hell?
Mace New Testament (1729)
ye serpents, ye brood of vipers, how can ye escape the punishment of Gehenna?
Simplified Cowboy Version
You're all coyotes! You're the bastard sons of coyotes! How are you gonna escape the truck that leads to the slaughterhouse?
Contextual Overview
13 "I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won't let anyone else in either. "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. "You're hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that's nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that's serious.' What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that's nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that's serious'? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless. "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God's Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that's wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons? "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something. "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds. "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You're cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count. "Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It's on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse. "You can't squirm out of this: Every drop of righteous blood ever spilled on this earth, beginning with the blood of that good man Abel right down to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah's son, whom you murdered at his prayers, is on your head. All this, I'm telling you, is coming down on you, on your generation. "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God's news! How often I've ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn't let me. And now you're so desolate, nothing but a ghost town. What is there left to say? Only this: I'm out of here soon. The next time you see me you'll say, ‘Oh, God has blessed him! He's come, bringing God's rule!'" 14Religious Fashion Shows Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. "The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God's Law. You won't go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It's all spit-and-polish veneer. "Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor' and ‘Reverend.' "Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ. "Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. "I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won't let anyone else in either. 15 "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. 16"You're hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that's nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that's serious.' What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that's nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that's serious'? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless. 23"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God's Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that's wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons? 25"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something. 27"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds. 29"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You're cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count. 33"Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It's on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
serpents: Matthew 3:7, Matthew 12:34, Matthew 21:34, Matthew 21:35, Genesis 3:15, Psalms 58:3-5, Isaiah 57:3, Isaiah 57:4, Luke 3:7, John 8:44, 2 Corinthians 11:3, Revelation 12:9
how: Matthew 23:14, Hebrews 2:3, Hebrews 10:29, Hebrews 12:25
Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 32:22 - lowest Psalms 2:5 - Then Psalms 58:4 - serpent Isaiah 1:4 - a seed Isaiah 20:6 - and how Isaiah 59:12 - our transgressions Jeremiah 44:14 - shall escape Lamentations 4:13 - that Ezekiel 17:15 - shall he escape Ezekiel 22:4 - and thou hast Matthew 26:4 - by Mark 12:40 - long Luke 6:39 - shall Luke 16:23 - in hell Acts 2:40 - untoward Acts 28:3 - came Romans 2:3 - that thou shalt 1 Corinthians 6:10 - thieves Galatians 5:9 - General 1 Thessalonians 5:3 - and they
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Ye servants, ye generation of vipers,.... The latter of these names, John the Baptist calls the Sadducees and Pharisees by, in Matthew 3:7 and Christ, in Matthew 12:34 both express their craft and subtlety, their inward poison, and venomous nature; their fair outside, and specious pretences; their hypocrisy, malice, and wickedness; in which they were like to the old serpent, their father the devil, and to their ancestors, that murdered the prophets; nor could any good thing be expected, from such a viperous generation:
how can ye escape the damnation of hell? signifying, that it was impossible that they should; nor could they surely expect it themselves, who must be conscious to themselves of their wickedness, malice, and deceit. The Persic version reads it, "where can ye escape?" c. and so Beza says it was read, in one ancient copy of his and the sense is, whither can ye flee? to whom, or what can you have recourse to, to screen you from the wrath to come? Rocks and mountains, caves and dens, will be of no service. The phrase,
××× × ×©× ×××× ×, "the judgment, or damnation of hell", is a phrase often used in the Talmud p, and Midrashes q of the Jews; and intends future torment, and the everlasting vengeance and wrath of God, the unquenchable fire prepared for the devil and his angels, and which impenitent unbelieving sinners cannot escape.
p T. Bab. Berncot, fol. 61. 1. Erubin, fol. 18. 2. Yebamot, fol. 102. 2. Sota, fol. 4. 2. & 5. 1. & Bava Bathra, fol. 10. 1. q Bemidbar Rabba, fol. 203. 1. Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 14. 2. & Midrash Kohelet, fol. 76. 1.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Ye serpents - This name is given to them on account of their pretending to be pious, and very much devoted to God, but being secretly evil, At the heart, with all their pretensions, they were filled with evil designs, as the serpent was, Genesis 3:1-5
Generation of vipers - See the notes at Matthew 12:34.
Damnation of hell - This refers, beyond all question, to future punishment. So great was their wickedness and hypocrisy, that, if they persevered in this course, it was impossible to escape the damnation that should come on the guilty. This is the sternest language that Jesus ever used to wicked people. But it by no means authorizes ministers to use such language to sinners now. Christ knew that this was true of them. He had an authority which none now have. It is not the province of ministers to denounce judgment, or to use severe names, least of all to do it on pretence of imitating Christ. He knew the hearts of people. We know them not. He had authority to declare certainly that those whom he addressed would be lost. We have no such authority. He addressed persons; we address characters.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers — What a terrible stroke! - Ye are serpents, and the offspring of serpents. This refers to Matthew 23:31: they confessed that they were the children of those who murdered the prophets; and they are now going to murder Christ and his followers, to show that they have not degenerated - an accursed seed, of an accursed breed. My old MS. translates this passage oddly - Gee serpentis, fruytis of burrownyngis of eddris that sleen her modris. There seems to be here an allusion to a common opinion, that the young of the adder or viper which are brought forth alive eat their way through the womb of their mothers. Hence that ancient enigma attributed to LACTANTIUS: -
Non possum nasci, si non occidero matrem.
Occidi matrem: sed me manet exitus idem.
Id mea mors faciet, quod jam mea fecit origo.
Cael. Firm. Symposium, N. xv.
I never can be born, nor see the day,
Till through my parent's womb I eat my way.
Her I have slain; like her must yield my breath;
For that which gave me life, shall cause my death.
Every person must see with what propriety this was applied to the Jews, who were about to murder the very person who gave them their being and all their blessings.
