Matthew 5:20-22

Amplified Bible

²⁰“For I say to you that unless your righteousness (uprightness, moral essence) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Personal Relationships

²¹“You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be ^[a]guilty before the court.’^(A) ²²But I say to you that everyone who continues to be angry with his brother or harbors malice against him shall be guilty before the court; and whoever speaks [contemptuously and insultingly] to his brother, ^[b]‘Raca (You empty-headed idiot)!’ shall be guilty before the supreme court (Sanhedrin); and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of the ^[c]fiery hell.

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Footnotes

Matthew 5:21 Or liable to.
Matthew 5:22 A severe Aramaic insult.
Matthew 5:22 Gr Gehenna, a Greek version of the Hebrew for Valley of Hinnom, a ravine where garbage was burned continuously, located just south of Jerusalem. Often regarded in ancient times as symbolic of hell (the lake of fire), a realm reserved for the wicked. Mentioned in Matt 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6.