¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,^(A) but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”^(B)

¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted^(C) will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides.^[a](D) If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”^(E)

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”^(F)

¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?”^(G) Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,^(H) and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.^{(I) 20} These are what defile a person;^(J) but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,^(A) but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”^(B)

¹⁴ Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵ Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” ^[16] [a]

¹⁷ After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him^(A) about this parable. ¹⁸ “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods^(B) clean.)^(C)

¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted^(A) will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides.^[a](B) If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”^(C)

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”^(D)

²⁰ He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed,^(A) malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness,^(A) we lie and do not live out the truth.^{(B) 7} But if we walk in the light,^(C) as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all^[a] sin.^(D)

⁸ If we claim to be without sin,^(E) we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.^{(F) 9} If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins^(G) and purify us from all unrighteousness.^{(H) 10} If we claim we have not sinned,^(I) we make him out to be a liar^(J) and his word is not in us.^(K)