Matthew 15:7-21
New King James Version
7 (A)Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘These(B) people [a]draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
(C)Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
10 (D)When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 (E)Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
13 But He answered and said, (F)“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone. (G)They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
15 (H)Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
16 So Jesus said, (I)“Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that (J)whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But (K)those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 (L)For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
A Gentile Shows Her Faith(M)
21 (N)Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 15:8 NU omits draw near to Me with their mouth, And
Matthew 15:7-21
English Standard Version
7 (A)You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
8 (B)“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as (C)doctrines the commandments of men.’”
What Defiles a Person
10 And he called the people to him and said to them, (D)“Hear and understand: 11 (E)it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were (F)offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, (G)“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted (H)will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; (I)they are blind guides.[a] And (J)if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, (K)“Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, (L)“Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that (M)whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?[b] 18 But (N)what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come (O)evil thoughts, (P)murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, (Q)slander. 20 (R)These are what defile a person. But (S)to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 (T)And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 15:14 Some manuscripts add of the blind
- Matthew 15:17 Greek is expelled into the latrine
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
