Mark 7:1-23

Legacy Standard Bible

God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions

7 ^(A)And the Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered around Him when they had come ^(B)from Jerusalem, ² and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with ^(C)defiled hands, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they ^[a]carefully wash their hands, thus observing the ^(D)tradition of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they ^[b]wash themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of ^(E)cups and pitchers and copper pots.) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the ^(F)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with ^(G)defiled hands?” ⁶ And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ Leaving the commandment of God, you hold to the ^(J)tradition of men.”

⁹ And He was also saying to them, “You are good at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your ^(K)tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘^(L)Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘^(M)He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to ^[c]be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever you might benefit from me is ^(N)Corban (that is to say, ^[d]given to God),’ ¹² you no longer leave him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thus invalidating the word of God by your ^(O)tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁴ And 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 man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. ^16 [e][And if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]

¹⁷ And when He had left the crowd and entered ^(P)the house, ^(Q)His disciples were asking Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He *said to them, “Are you lacking understanding in this way as well? Do you not ^[f]perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and goes to the sewer?” (Thus He declared ^(R)all foods ^(S)clean.) ²⁰ And He was saying, “^(T)That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, ^[g](U)envy, slander, ^[h]pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”