Traditions and Commandments

7 ^pNow when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes ^qwho hadcome from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands thatwere ^rdefiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eatunless they wash their hands properly,¹ holding to ^sthe tradition of ^tthe elders, 4 andwhen they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.² And thereare many other traditions that they observe, such as ^uthe washing of ^vcups and potsand copper vessels and dining couches.³) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes askedhim, “Why do your disciples not walk according to ^sthe tradition of ^tthe elders, ^wbuteat with ^rdefiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you^xhypocrites, as it is written,

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of ^arejecting the commandment of Godin order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ^b‘Honor your father and yourmother’; and, ^c‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If aman tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me isCorban”’ (that is, given to God)⁴— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything forhis father or mother, 13 thus ^dmaking void the word of God by your tradition that youhave handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, ^e“Hear me, all of you,and understand: 15 ^fThere is nothing outside a person that by going into him candefile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”⁵ 17 Andwhen he had entered ^gthe house and left the people, ^hhis disciples asked him aboutthe parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then ⁱare you also without understanding? Doyou not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 sinceit enters not his heart ^jbut his stomach, and is expelled?”⁶ (^kThus he declared allfoods clean.) 20 And he said, ^l“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 Forfrom within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft,^mmurder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, ⁿsensuality, ^oenvy, ^pslander,^qpride, ^rfoolishness. 23 ^sAll these evil things come from within, and they defile aperson.”