'Woe to You' in the Bible
“Woe to you, O Moab!You are ruined, O people of Chemosh!He has given his sons as fugitives,And his daughters into captivity,To an Amorite king, Sihon.
Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning.
Woe to you, O destroyer,While you were not destroyed;And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.
“As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings,The lewdness of your prostitutionOn the hills in the field,I have seen your abominations.Woe to you, O Jerusalem!How long will you remain unclean?”
“Woe to you, Moab!The people of Chemosh have perished;For your sons have been taken away captiveAnd your daughters into captivity.
“Then it came about after all your wickedness (‘Woe, woe to you!’ declares the Lord God),
“Woe to you who make your neighbors drink,Who mix in your venom even to make them drunkSo as to look on their nakedness!
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
[Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.
Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places.
Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”
But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them.
Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”