Mark 7:5-23

English Standard Version

⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to ^(A)the tradition of ^(B)the elders, ^(C)but eat with ^(D)defiled hands?” ⁶ And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you ^(E)hypocrites, 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 ^(H)rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ^(I)‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^(J)‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)^[a]— ¹² then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, ¹³ thus ^(K)making void the word of God by your tradition that you have 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, ^(L)“Hear me, all of you, and understand: ^15 (M)There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”^{[b] 17} And when he had entered ^(N)the house and left the people, ^(O)his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then ^(P)are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ since it enters not his heart ^(Q)but his stomach, and is expelled?”^[c] (^(R)Thus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And he said, ^(S)“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, ^(T)murder, adultery, ²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, ^(U)sensuality, ^(V)envy, ^(W)slander, ^(X)pride, ^(Y)foolishness. ^23 (Z)All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”