The wicked trample upon what is righteous.
Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Matthew 7:6
The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road; and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the air ate it up….The seed is the word of God. And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved.
Luke 8:5,11-12
How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God (see above, for Jesus is the Word of God), and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Hebrews 10:29
Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah. What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me? I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts (which is to offer a sacrifice to God in the way this harlot people was doing by walking in a form of godliness, performing outward acts of devotion while in their hearts they had no real love for God but continued to walk after the cursed carnal flesh nature of Satan)?
Isaiah 1:10-12
Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, but I will come over her fair neck with a yoke; I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, Jacob will harrow.
Hosea 10:11
As a man sows, so does he reap. Thus the Lord tramples down and threshes the wicked.
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Matthew 5:13
Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people, and they will fall by the edge of the (spiritual) sword (cf. 1 Chron 21:14-16,27,30), and will be led captive into all the (spiritual) nations; and (the spiritual) Jerusalem (what people today call church) will be trampled under foot by the (spiritual) Gentiles (who are uncircumcised in their carnal flesh) until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Luke 21:23-24
And there was given me a reed (the holiness and righteousness of Jesus) like a staff; and someone said, “Rise and measure the temple of God (the true Church built of living stones), and the altar (the cross, where we lay down our lives as living sacrifices to God), and those who worship in it. And leave out the court which is outside the temple (the court of the Gentiles, those who come near to the holiness of God but never enter into it by the circumcision of their carnal flesh), and do not measure it, for it has been given to the (spiritual) nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
Revelation 11:1-3
It is God who removes the (spiritual) mountains, they know not how, when He overturns them in His anger; Who shakes the earth out of its place, and its (spiritual) pillars tremble; Who commands the (spiritual) sun not to shine, and sets a seal upon the (spiritual) stars; Who alone stretches out the heavens, and tramples down the (spiritual) waves of the sea…
Job 9:5-8
Through God we shall do valiantly, and it is He who will tread down our adversaries.
Psalm 60:12
So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard (those set apart to be the people of God but who played the harlot with the world and bore no fruit); I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall (of security) and it will become trampled ground. And I will lay it waste (a desolation); it will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns (bad fruit) will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain (the Holy Spirit who causes good fruit to come forth) on it.
Isaiah 5:5-6
And it will come about in that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines (which represent the people of God who are to abide in Christ), valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns (bad fruit, like hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, just like what is found in today’s harlot churches). People will come there with bows and arrows (their mouth is a bow and their tongues are arrows) because all the land will be briars and thorns. And as for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe (i.e., that were fruitful), you will not go there, for fear of briars and thorns, but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.
Isaiah 7:23-25
The Lord tramples down the wicked through the agency of the devil and the powers of darkness.
I send it (Assyria, the rod of My anger) against a godless nation and commission it against the people of My fury to capture booty and to seize plunder, and to make them a trampled place like mud in the streets.
Isaiah 10:6
We have heard of the pride of Moab (near relatives to the true sons of Abraham–for Moab was descended from Lot, Abraham’s nephew–who are “circumcised and yet uncircumcised”, i.e., who have an outward show of religion but in fact are uncircumcised in their heart, cf. Jer 9:25-26), an excessive pride; even of his arrogance, pride, and fury; his idle boasts are false. Therefore Moab shall wail; everyone of Moab shall wail….For the fields of Heshbon have withered, the vines of Sibmah as well; the lords of the nations (who typify the “world forces of this darkness”, and “the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places”, Eph 6:12) have trampled down its choice clusters which reached as far as Jazer and wandered to the deserts; its tendrils spread themselves out and passed over the sea. Therefore I will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah; I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for the shouting over your summer fruits and your harvest (righteousness) has fallen away. And gladness and joy are taken away from the (spiritually) fruitful field; in the vineyards also there will be no cries of joy or jubilant shouting, no treader treads out (the spiritual) wine (which is the truth of God) in the presses, for I have made the shouting to cease.
Isaiah 16:6-10
Therefore, hear the word of the LORD O scoffers, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge (or flood) will not reach us when it passes by, for we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone (the true Jesus), a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. And I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the level (cf. Rev 11:1-3); then hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the secret place (just like in the days of Noah). And your covenant with death shall be covered over, and your pact with Sheol shall not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, then you become its trampling place. (The overwhelming scourge is the flood waters of the powers of darkness that lead the people to believe a lie; they are the perverted doctrines of demons.) As often as it passes through, it will seize you. For morning after morning it will pass through anytime during the day or night. And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
Isaiah 28:14-19
I have aroused one from the north (cf. Is 14:13), and he has come; from the rising of the sun he will call on My name; and he will come upon rulers as upon mortar, even as the potter treads clay.
Isaiah 41:25
Thy holy people possessed Thy sanctuary for a little while, our adversaries have trodden it down.
Isaiah 63:18
With the hoofs of his (the king of Babylon’s) horses he will trample all your (Tyre’s) streets. He will slay your people with the (spiritual) sword; and your strong pillars will come down to the ground.
Ezekiel 26:11
After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder (i.e., the remnant) with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns….Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all of them, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet….Thus he said: “The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it….”
Daniel 7:7,19,23
While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. And he came up to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. And I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power. Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.
And out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land. And it (Satan) grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down (cf. Rev 12:4). It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host (Jesus; cf. 2 Thess 2:3-4); and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him (cf. Rom 12:1-2, Phil 2:17, 4:18, Heb 13:10,15-16, esp. vs 15, and 1 Pet 2:5), and the place of His sanctuary (the holy place, i.e., the Church) was thrown down (and trampled on). And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground (where it is trampled upon) and perform its will and prosper. Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?” And he said to me, “For 2300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.”
[Gabriel explains this vision….] Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end….Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end. The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the (spiritual) kings of Media and Persia. And the shaggy goat represents the (spiritual) king of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first (spiritual) king. And the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four (spiritual) kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power. And in the latter period of their rule, when the transgressors have run their course, a (spiritual) king will arise insolent (lit. strong of face) and skilled in intrigue (or ambiguous speech). And his power will be mighty, but not by his own power, and he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will; he (Satan) will destroy mighty men and the holy people (by the deception of perverted doctrines). And through his shrewdness he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; and he will magnify himself in his heart (cf. Is 14:13), and he will destroy many while they are at ease (in Zion; i.e., “secure”, as it can also be translated, in their rebellion against God; i.e., they are being destroyed while they have a false security that they are saved). He will even oppose the Prince of princes (Jesus), but he will be broken without human agency. And the vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true; but keep the vision secret, for it pertains to many days in the future.
Daniel 8:5-14,17,19-26
How the wicked are trampled down by the agency of the devil may take the form of perverted doctrines.
Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is at the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome (same word as in Is 16:8 translated by NASB as trampled down) with wine! Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent; as a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction, like a storm of mighty overflowing waters (just like in the days of Noah), He has cast it down to the earth with His hand. The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden underfoot. And the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is at the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first ripe fig prior to summer; which one sees, and as soon as it is in his hand, he swallows it.
Isaiah 28:1-4
I trod down the peoples in My anger, and made them (spiritually) drunk in My wrath (cf. Rev 17:2, 18:3-6), and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.
Isaiah 63:6
Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard, they have trampled down My field; they have made My pleasant field a desolate wilderness. It has been made a desolation, desolate, it mourns before Me; the whole land has been made desolate, because no man lays it to heart.
Jeremiah 12:10-11
And as for you, My flock, thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters that you must foul by trampling the rest with your feet? And as for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet, and they must drink what you foul by trampling with you feet!”
Ezekiel 34:17-19
In this way the Lord treads the winepress.
Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? “I have trodden the wine trough alone; and from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger, and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come. And I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me; and My wrath upheld Me. And I trod down the peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
Isaiah 63:1-6
Therefore you shall prophesy against them (those who dwell in the city which is called by God’s name) all these words, and you shall say to them, “The LORD will roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Jeremiah 25:30
The Lord has trodden as in a wine press the virgin daughter of Judah.
Lamentations 1:15
Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men! Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up! Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.” Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down, O LORD, Thy mighty ones. Let the nations be aroused and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
Joel 3:9-15
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. And another angel, the one who has power over fire came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” And the angel swung his sickle to the earth, and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.
Revelation 14:17-20
And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. (Notice that those who trample upon Jesus, Heb 10:29, will be trampled upon by Jesus).
Revelation 19:15
Those who overcome by the blood of the Lamb are purified and saved out of the midst of this trampling, even as the wicked are being destroyed.
The LORD sent a pestilence on Israel; 70,000 men of Israel fell. And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough; now relax your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite….Now Ornan turned back and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. And Ornan was threshing wheat. (Just as Ornan was threshing wheat, so was the LORD threshing His people. At the threshing floor of Ornan David built an altar, and later, Solomon built the temple. It was at the site of the future temple, made holy by the blood of sheep and goats and which represents the true Church of God made holy by the blood of Jesus, that the people of Jeruslem were saved from the wrath of God.)
1 Chronicles 21:14-15,20
And the LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain (Zion); a banquet of aged wine (the truth of the word of God), choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab (near relatives to the true sons of Abraham who are “circumcised and yet uncircumcised”) will be trodden down in his place as straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile. And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, but the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands. And the unassailable fortifications of your walls (traditions of men) He will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground, even to the dust.
Isaiah 25:6-12
For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is the cartwheel driven over cummin; but dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club. Grain for bread is crushed, indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever. Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it, he does not thresh it longer. This also comes from the LORD of hosts, Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.
Isaiah 28:27-29
I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness. Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will look on her; at that time she will become a trampled place, like mire of the streets.
Micah 7:9-10
In indignation Thou didst march through the earth; in anger Thou didst trample (or thresh) the nations. Thou didst go forth for the salvation of Thy people, for the salvation of Thine anointed. Thou didst strike the head of the house of the evil to lay him open from thigh to neck….Thou didst tread on the sea with Thy horses, on the surge of many waters.
Habakkuk 3:12-13,15
In the end the remnant will tread down the enemy.
Thou art my King, O God; command salvation for Jacob. Through Thee we will push back our adversaries; through Thy name we will trample down those who rise up against us.
Psalm 44:4-5
He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent (or dragon) you will trample down.
Psalm 91:11-13
A sated soul tramples on honey (the arrogant words of vanity with which the harlot entices by fleshly desires, promising freedom to those who are slaves of corruption, cf. Prov 2:16, 5:3-4, 6:24, 7:5,21, and 2 Pet 2:18-19) but to a famished soul any bitter thing is sweet (cf. Is 5:20).
Proverbs 27:7
Trust in the LORD forever, for in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock. For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city (Babylon, the harlot church); He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust. The foot will trample it, the feet of the afflicted, the steps of the helpless.
Isaiah 26:4-6
“Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of (the true) Israel (of God); I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I have made you a new sharp threshing sledge with double edges; you will thresh the (spiritual) mountains, and pulverize them, and will make the hills like chaff. You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the storm will scatter them; but you will rejoice in the LORD, You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.” (This is the nature of the harvest of the Lord.)
Isaiah 41:14-16
For thus says the LORD of host, the God of Israel; “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is stamped firm (lit. “of its treading”); yet in a little while the time of harvest will come for her.”
Jeremiah 51:33
Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion, for your horn I will make iron and your hoofs I will make bronze, that you may pulverize many peoples, that you may devote to the LORD their unjust gain and their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
Micah 4:13
When the Assyrian invades our land, when he tramples on our citadels, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight leaders of men. And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod at its entrances; and He will deliver us from the Assyrian when he attacks our land and when he tramples our territory. And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, among many peoples like a lion among the beasts of the forest, which, if he passes through, tramples down and tears, and there is none to rescue.
Micah 5:5-8
My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats; for the LORD of host has visited His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like His majestic horse in battle. From them (lit. him) will come the cornerstone, from them the tent peg, from them the bow of battle, from them every ruler, all of them together. And they will be as mighty men, treading down the enemy in the mire of the streets in battle; and they will fight, for the LORD will be with them; and the riders on horses will be put to shame.
Zechariah 10:3-5
For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of hosts, “so that it will leave then neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 4:1-3
Throughout the Bible trampling/threshing is a form of severe punishment.
And Gideon said, “All right, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will thrash (or trample, thresh) your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”
Judges 8:7
Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the LORD; thus says the LORD, ‘Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'” And the royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, “Behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Then he said, “Behold, you shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”…Now the king appointed the royal officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.
2 Kings 7:1-2, 17
And he (Jehu) said, “Throw her (Jezebel) down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her under foot.
2 Kings 9:33
For He left to Jehoahaz of the army not more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
2 Kings 13:7
Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face each other.” And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thorn bush which was in Lebanon sent to the cedar which was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ But there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trampled the thorn bush.
2 Kings 14:8-9
O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to my friend, or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; and let him trample my life down to the ground, and lay my glory in the dust.
Psalm 7:3-5
Thus says the LORD, “For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not revoke its punishment, because they threshed Gilead with implements of sharp iron.
Amos 1:3
Other references include:
The ostriches’ wings flap joyously with the pinion and plumage of love, for she abandons her eggs to the earth, and warms them in the dust, and she forgets that a foot may crush them, or that a wild beast may trample them. She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers; though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned; because God has made her forget wisdom, and has not given her a share of understanding. When she lifts herself on high, she laughs at the horse and his rider.
Job 39:13-18
But you (Satan, the king of Babylon) have been cast out of your tomb like an abhorred branch, clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a trampled corpse….The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains (thus Satan too shall reap what he sows). Then his yoke will be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulder.
Isaiah 14:19,24-25
We have heard of the pride of Moab–he is very proud–of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation….More than the weeping for Jazer I shall weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your tendrils stretched across the sea, they reached to the sea of Jazer; upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest the destroyer has fallen. So gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab. And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses; no one will tread them with shouting, the shouting will not be shouts of joy.
Jeremiah 48:29,31-33
“Woe to you Pharisees!…Woe to you Pharisees!…Woe to you!…Woe to you lawyers as well!…Woe to you!…Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” And when He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, plotting against Him, to catch Him in something He might say. Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of the multitude had gathered together that they were trampling upon one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
Luke 11:42-12:1