^15 (A)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.”^[a]

¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then ^(A)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 ^(B)but his stomach, and is expelled?”^[a] (^(C)Thus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And he said, ^(D)“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, ^(E)murder, adultery, ²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, ^(F)sensuality, ^(G)envy, ^(H)slander, ^(I)pride, ^(J)foolishness. ^23 (K)All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”