Matthew 15:1-20

Lexham English Bible

Human Traditions and God’s Commandments

15 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.”^{[a] 3} So he answered and^[b] said to them, “Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your^[c] father and your^[d] mother,’^[e] and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die^[f].’^{[g] 5} But you say, ‘Whoever says to his^[h] father or his^[i] mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received^[j] from me is a gift to God,” ⁶ need not honor his father,’^[k] and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,

Defilement from Within

¹⁰ And summoning the crowd, he said to them, “Hear and understand: ¹¹ It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.” ¹² Then the disciples came and^[n] said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they^[o] heard this saying?” ¹³ And he answered and^[p] said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let^[q] them! They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵ But Peter answered and^[r] said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” ¹⁶ But he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that everything that enters into the mouth goes into the stomach and is evacuated into the latrine? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the person. ¹⁹ For from the heart come evil plans, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, abusive speech. ²⁰ These are the things that defile a person. But eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person!”