Matthew 23:20

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

The person, therefore, who takes an oath ‘by the Altar,’ [not only] swears by it, but [also] by everything on it.

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You blind people! Which is more important, the gift or the Altar that makes the gift sacred?

And the person who takes an oath ‘by the Temple,’ [not only] swears by it, but [also] by Him [i.e., God] who lives there.

For people make vows by someone greater [than themselves], and an argument is settled when someone takes an oath [that he is telling the truth].