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^(A) clean.)^(B)

⁹ “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’^(A)

¹⁵ The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”^(A)

⁴¹ But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor,^(A) and everything will be clean for you.^(B)

²¹ “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²² These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish^(A) with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.^(B)

Freedom From Human Rules

¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you^(A) by what you eat or drink,^(B) or with regard to a religious festival,^(C) a New Moon celebration^(D) or a Sabbath day.^(E)

¹³ You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.”^(A) The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord,^(B) and the Lord for the body.

The Weak and the Strong

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak,^(A) without quarreling over disputable matters. ² One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.^{(B) 3} The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt^(C) the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge^(D) the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?^(E) To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ One person considers one day more sacred than another;^(F) another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶ Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God;^(G) and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for ourselves alone,^(H) and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.^{(I) 9} For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life^(J) so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.^(K)

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister^[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt?^(L) For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.^{(M) 11} It is written:

¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.^(P)

¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body?