Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
    for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’[a]

For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. 10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’[b] and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’[c] 11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’[d] 12 In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

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Footnotes

  1. 7:7 Isa 29:13 (Greek version).
  2. 7:10a Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.
  3. 7:10b Exod 21:17 (Greek version); Lev 20:9 (Greek version).
  4. 7:11 Greek ‘What I would have given to you is Corban’ (that is, a gift).

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’[a](A)

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”(B)

And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[b] your own traditions!(C) 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[c](D) and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[d](E) 11 But you say(F) that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God(G) by your tradition(H) that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13
  2. Mark 7:9 Some manuscripts set up
  3. Mark 7:10 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
  4. Mark 7:10 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9