Matthew 15:3-9
New King James Version
3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, (A)‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, (B)‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, (C)“Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— 6 then he need not honor his father [a]or mother.’ Thus you have made the [b]commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 (D)Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘These(E) people [c]draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
(F)Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:6 NU omits or mother
- Matthew 15:6 NU word
- Matthew 15:8 NU omits draw near to Me with their mouth, And
Matthew 15:3-9
King James Version
3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
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Matthew 15:3-9
Lexham English Bible
3 So he answered and[a] said to them, “Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your[b] father and your[c] mother,’[d] and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die[e].’[f] 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his[g] father or his[h] mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received[i] from me is a gift to God,” 6 need not honor his father,’[j] and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,
8 ‘This people honors me with their[k] lips,
but their heart is far, far away from me,
9 and they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”[l]
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:3 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:4 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Matthew 15:4 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Matthew 15:4 A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16
- Matthew 15:4 Literally “let him die the death”
- Matthew 15:4 A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9
- Matthew 15:5 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Matthew 15:5 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Matthew 15:5 Literally “you would have been benefited”
- Matthew 15:6 Most later manuscripts add “or his mother”
- Matthew 15:8 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Matthew 15:9 A quotation from Isa 29:13
Matthew 15:3-9
English Standard Version
3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, (A)‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, (B)‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”[a] 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have (C)made void the word[b] of God. 7 (D)You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
8 (E)“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as (F)doctrines the commandments of men.’”
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:5 Or is an offering
- Matthew 15:6 Some manuscripts law
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
