16 “How horrible it will be for you, you blind guides! You say, ‘To swear an oath by the temple doesn’t mean a thing. But to swear an oath by the gold in the temple means a person must keep his oath.’
17 You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the temple that made the gold holy?
18 Again you say, ‘To swear an oath by the altar doesn’t mean a thing. But to swear an oath by the gift on the altar means a person must keep his oath.’
19 You blind men! What is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy?
20 To swear an oath by the altar is to swear by it and by everything on it.
21 To swear an oath by the temple is to swear by it and by the one who lives there.
22 And to swear an oath by heaven is to swear by God’s throne and the one who sits on it.