Matthew 15:1-9 (New International Version)

Matthew 15

Clean and Unclean

 ¹Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ²"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"

 ³Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴For God said, 'Honor your father and mother'^[a] and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'^{[b] 5}But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' ⁶he is not to 'honor his father^[c]' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
 ⁸" 'These people honor me with their lips,
      but their hearts are far from me.
 ⁹They worship me in vain;
      their teachings are but rules taught by men.'^[d]"