Matthew 15:1-20

Contemporary English Version

The Teaching of the Ancestors

(Mark 7.1-13)

15 About this time some Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses came from Jerusalem. They asked Jesus, ²“Why don't your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? They don't even wash their hands^[a] before they eat.”

³Jesus answered:

Why do you disobey God and follow your own teaching? ⁴^(A) Didn't God command you to respect your father and mother? Didn't he tell you to put to death all who curse their parents? ⁵But you let people get by without helping their parents when they should. You let them say that what they have has been offered to God.^[b] ⁶Is this any way to show respect to your parents? You ignore God's commands in order to follow your own teaching. ⁷And you are nothing but show-offs! Isaiah the prophet was right when he wrote that God had said,

⁸^(B) “All of you praise me
    with your words,
but you never really
    think about me.
⁹It is useless for you
    to worship me,
when you teach rules
    made up by humans.”

What Really Makes People Unclean

(Mark 7.14-23)

¹⁰Jesus called the crowd together and said, “Pay attention and try to understand what I mean. ¹¹The food you put into your mouth doesn't make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.”

¹²Then his disciples came over to him and asked, “Do you know you insulted the Pharisees by what you said?”

¹³Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴^(C) Stay away from those Pharisees! They are like blind people leading other blind people, and all of them will fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵Peter replied, “What did you mean when you talked about the things that make people unclean?”

¹⁶Jesus then said:

Don't any of you know by now what I am talking about? ¹⁷Don't you know that the food you put into your mouth goes into your stomach and then out of your body? ¹⁸^(D) But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God. ¹⁹Out of your heart come evil thoughts, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, vulgar deeds, stealing, telling lies, and insulting others. ²⁰These are what make you unclean. Eating without washing your hands will not make you unfit to worship God.

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Footnotes

15.2 wash their hands: The Jewish people had strict laws about washing their hands before eating, especially if they had been out in public.
15.5 has been offered to God: According to Jewish custom, when people said something was offered to God, it belonged to him and could not be used for anyone else, not even for their own parents.