¹⁴ Summoning^(A) the crowd again, he told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand:^{(B) 15} Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”^[a]

¹⁷ When he went into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach^(C) and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean^(D)). ²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities,^(E) thefts, murders,^{(F) 22} adulteries,^(G) greed,^(H) evil actions, deceit,^(I) self-indulgence,^(J) envy,^[b] slander,^(K) pride,^(L) and foolishness.^{(M) 23} All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”