Living and character
What does the Bible say about hypocrisy?
Jesus reserved His sharpest words for religious pretence: appearing righteous outwardly while the heart is far away.
What Scripture says
Matthew 23:27-28
““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
Matthew 6:1
““Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
1 Peter 2:1
“Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking,”
Luke 6:42
“Or how can you tell your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck of chaff that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck of chaff that is in your brother’s eye.”
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. See all Bible questions or verses by topic.