Bible Verses About Self Righteous Hypocrites
Self-righteous hypocrites are individuals who claim to be morally upright and religiously devout, but their actions do not align with their professed beliefs. The Bible warns against such hypocrisy and provides guidance on how to recognize and address it.
Bible Verses About Self Righteous Hypocrites
1. Matthew 23:27-28 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
2. Luke 6:42 – “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”
3. Matthew 7:5 – “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
4. Matthew 23:13 – “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.”
5. Matthew 15:7-8 – “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'”
6. Luke 12:1 – “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
7. Romans 2:3 – “Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?”
8. James 1:26 – “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”
9. Matthew 6:2 – “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
10. Matthew 6:5 – “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
11. Matthew 6:16 – “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
12. Matthew 23:15 – “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.”
13. Matthew 23:23 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”
14. Matthew 23:25 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”
15. Matthew 23:29 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.”
16. Matthew 23:33 – “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”
17. 1 John 2:4 – “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
18. Romans 12:9 – “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”
19. Matthew 23:24 – “You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!”
20. Matthew 23:26 – “You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.”
21. Matthew 23:32 – “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.”
22. Matthew 23:34 – “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.”
23. Matthew 23:36 – “Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”
24. Matthew 23:37 – “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
25. Mark 7:6 – “And he said to them, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;'”
26. Mark 7:8 – “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
27. Mark 7:9 – “And he said to them, ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!'”
28. Mark 7:13 – “Thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
29. Luke 11:44 – “Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
30. Luke 11:46 – “And he said, ‘Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.'”
31. Luke 11:52 – “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
32. Luke 12:56 – “You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”
33. Luke 13:15 – “Then the Lord answered him, ‘You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?'”
34. Luke 13:27 – “But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!'”
35. Luke 20:46 – “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts.”
36. Luke 22:55-57 – “And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, ‘This man also was with him.’ But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him.'”
37. Luke 23:13 – “Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,”
38. Luke 23:35 – “And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!'”
39. John 18:38 – “Pilate said to him, ‘What is truth?’ After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, ‘I find no guilt in him.'”
40. Acts 23:3 – “Then Paul said to him, ‘God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?'”
41. Acts 23:6 – “Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.'”
42. Acts 23:9 – “Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, ‘We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?'”
43. Acts 24:5 – “For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.”
44. Acts 24:14 – “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,”
45. Acts 26:5 – “They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.”
46. Romans 2:1 – “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.”
47. Romans 2:17-24 – “But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.'”
48. 1 Corinthians 4:5 – “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
49. Galatians 2:14 – “But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, ‘If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?'”
50. James 3:10 – “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”
Conclusion
Throughout the Bible, there are numerous verses that warn against self-righteous hypocrisy. These verses highlight the importance of genuine faith, humility, and living in accordance with God’s commandments. It is crucial to examine our own hearts and actions, ensuring that we do not fall into the trap of hypocritical behavior. Instead, let us strive to be authentic followers of Christ, reflecting His love and truth in all that we do.