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15 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.”

He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16 and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9 But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,” he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

‘These people draw near to me with their mouth,
    and honor me with their lips;
    but their heart is far from me.
And in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’”Isaiah 29:13

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Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity

15 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”

Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[a] and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’[b] But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents.[c] And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
    for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’[d]

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Footnotes

  1. 15:4a Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.
  2. 15:4b Exod 21:17 (Greek version); Lev 20:9 (Greek version).
  3. 15:6 Greek their father; other manuscripts read their father or their mother.
  4. 15:8-9 Isa 29:13 (Greek version).