< Previous | Contents | Next >

13. "Let those who are great in consciousness consider themselves great, and those who are small in consciousness consider themselves small and those who are in between in consciousness consider themselves in between.

14. "It is unwise and foolish for people to let others consider them greater or smaller than they really are.

15. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you deceivers, hypocrites and swindlers who block the development of people's spirits and consciousness with your lies and false teachings.

16. "You will not achieve advancement easily, and through your false teachings you deprive those who wish to advance from doing so.

17. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you deceivers, hypocrites and swindlers, who devour the homes of widows and engage in long prayers for the sake of appearance; therefore, you shall live in piercing darkness all the longer.

18. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites who travel across land and sea in order to win a fellow believer; and once he becomes one, you turn him into an unreasonable and irrational child who indulges in twice as many false teachings as you.

19. "Woe to you, you blind proponents of false teachings who say, 'lf a person swears by the temple, the oath is not valid, but if he swears by the gold on the temple, the oath is binding.'

20. "You fools and blind people, you are the offspring of evil; why do you let people swear, knowing that an oath is not binding and is a worthless act?

21. "Or you say, 'lf one swears by the altar it is not valid; but if a person swears by the sacrificial offering it is binding.'

22. "You blind and mistaken teachers, who gave you the right to demand or take an oath since the laws of Creation state that oaths should not be taken?

23. "Your words should always be only 'yes, yes' or 'no, no.

24. "Therefore, those who swear by anything on Earth or in the universe swear by something fleeting, which is without permanence.

25. "Hence, an oath is also without permanence.

26. "And those who swear by Creation or its laws swear by something over which they have no power. Therefore, such an oath is also without permanence.

27. "Whoever swears by anything therefore commits an offence against the truthfulness of their word and makes it untrustworthy.

28. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites who tithe mint, meramie, dill and caraway seeds but neglect the most important things in the law, namely, justice, freedom of knowledge, and the truth of Creation. Thus you ignore the law of love and the laws of logic and justice.

29. "Woe to you, you blind leaders of a horde of blind, who say, 'This should be done and that should not be left undone.'

30. "You only spread a confused teaching and ignore the laws of Creation.

31. "You blind leaders, you are gnats and swallow camels, which you cannot digest.