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Eight Blessings and Eight Woes |
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Lord Jesus bestows... |
Lord Jesus pronounces... |
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Blessing: The kingdom bequeathed |
1 |
Woe: The kingdom shut |
| Blessed are the poor in spirit! For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Mt 5.3 | Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of Heaven against men. For you neither go in, nor do you allow those entering to go in. Mt 23.13 | |
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Blessing: Mourners are comforted |
2 |
Woe: Those who devour mourners are condemned |
| Blessed are they that mourn! For they shall be comforted. Mt 5.4 | Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and pray at length as a pretense. Therefore you shall receive the greater condemnation. Mt 23.14 | |
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Blessing: The meek inherit the earth |
3 |
Woe to fanatics who search the earth |
| Blessed are the meek! For they shall inherit the earth. Mt 5.5 | Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Mt 23.15 | |
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Blessing: True righteousness is blessed |
4 |
Woe: Self-righteousness is condemned |
| Blessed are they who hunger
and thirst after righteousness! For they shall be filled. Mt
5.6 |
Woe to you, blind guides,
saying, Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he
is a debtor. Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is a debtor! Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore whoever shall swear by the altar swears by it, and by all things on it. And whoever shall swear by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who shall swear by Heaven swears by the throne of God, and by Him who sits on it. Mt 23.16-22 |
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Blessing: The merciful obtain mercy |
5 |
Woe: Mercy left undone brings condemnation |
| Blessed are the merciful! For they shall obtain mercy. Mt 5.7 | Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and you have left undone the weightier matters of the
Law, judgment, mercy, and faith. You ought to have done these and not to leave the other undone. Blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Mt 23.23-24 |
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Blessing: The inwardly pure shall see God |
6 |
Woe unto the outwardly clean but inwardly filthy |
| Blessed are the pure in heart! For they shall see God. Mt 5.8 | Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of extortion and excess. Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of them may be clean also. Mt 23.25-26 |
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Blessing: Peacemakers are blessed |
7 |
Woe: Hypocrites are condemned |
| Blessed are the peacemakers! For they shall be called the sons of God. Mt 5.9 | Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outside, but inside they are full
of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also appear righteous to men outwardly, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Mt 23.27-28 |
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Blessing: The persecuted are blessed |
8 |
Woe unto the persecutors |
| Blessed are they who have
been persecuted for righteousness sake! For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your reward in Heaven is great. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Mt 5.10-12 |
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous, and say, If we
had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Therefore
you are witnesses to yourselves, that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets; and you fill up the measure
of your fathers. Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Mt 23.29-33 |
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