“Woe to you Pharisees! You give God a tenth of everything, right down to the plants in your garden, such as mint and rue. But you have neglected justice and the love of God. You should have pursued those things even as you gave your ten percent.
“Be careful not to do good deeds in front of other people so that they’ll see you. If you do that, you won’t get any reward from your Father in heaven.
I had studied Judaism in depth, more so than most Jews my age. That was because I was so devoted to the teachings passed down from those who’d lived before us.
“When you go without eating, don’t look all sad like the hypocrites. They make strange faces so that people will notice that they’re fasting. Truly I tell you, that’s all the reward they’ll get.
“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that other people will see them. Truly I tell you, that’s all the reward they’ll get.
I tell you, unless your righteousness is even better than the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you won’t enter the kingdom of heaven.