and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

He answered them, ¹  “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?

he does not need to honor his father.’ ¹  You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition.

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, ¹  holding fast to the tradition of the elders.

The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat ¹  with unwashed hands?”

He ¹  will be great, ²  and will be called the Son of the Most High, ³  and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father ⁴  David.

Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy, because ¹  your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors ²  did the same things to the prophets. ³ 

“Woe to you ¹  when all people ²  speak well of you, for their ancestors ³  did the same things to the false prophets.

So you testify that you approve of ¹  the deeds of your ancestors, ²  because they killed the prophets ³  and you build their ⁴  tombs! ⁵ 

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, ¹  and you people ²  say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” ³ 

However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision ¹  (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child ²  on the Sabbath.

Your father Abraham was overjoyed ¹  to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” ² 

“Brothers, ¹  I can speak confidently ²  to you about our forefather ³  David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, ¹  saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants ²  all the nations ³  of the earth will be blessed.’ ⁴ 

Then a famine occurred throughout ¹  Egypt and Canaan, causing ²  great suffering, and our ³  ancestors ⁴  could not find food.

This is the man who was in the congregation ¹  in the wilderness ²  with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, ³  and he ⁴  received living oracles ⁵  to give to you. ⁶ 

“You stubborn ¹  people, with uncircumcised ²  hearts and ears! ³  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ⁴  did!

The God of this people Israel ¹  chose our ancestors ²  and made the people great ³  during their stay as foreigners ⁴  in the country ⁵  of Egypt, and with uplifted arm ⁶  he led them out of it.

For David, after he had served ¹  God’s purpose in his own generation, died, ²  was buried with his ancestors, ³  and experienced ⁴  decay,

So now why are you putting God to the test ¹  by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke ²  that neither our ancestors ³  nor we have been able to bear?