The Heart of Mankind

¹⁴ After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside the person which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which come out of the person are what defile the person^[a].”

¹⁷ And when He later entered a house, away from the crowd, ^(A)His disciples asked Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and ^[b]is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared ^(B)all foods ^(C)clean.)

Abandonment of Faith

4 But ^(A)the Spirit explicitly says that ^(B)in later times some will ^[a]fall away from the faith, paying attention to ^(C)deceitful spirits and ^(D)teachings of demons, ² by means of the hypocrisy of liars ^(E)seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, ³ who ^(F)forbid marriage and advocate ^(G)abstaining from foods which ^(H)God has created to be ^(I)gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For ^(J)everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is ^(K)received with gratitude; ⁵ for it is sanctified by means of ^(L)the word of God and prayer.

A Good Minister’s Discipline

⁶ In pointing out these things to ^(M)the brothers and sisters, you will be a good ^(N)servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the ^(O)good doctrine which you ^(P)have been following.

^20 (A)If you have died with Christ ^[a]to the ^(B)elementary principles of the world, ^(C)why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to ^(D)decrees, such as, ²¹ “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”