New Testament in a Year

The Things that Truly Please God^(A)

7 When some Pharisees and some ·teachers of the law [scribes] came from Jerusalem, they gathered around Jesus. ² They saw that some of Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] ate food with hands that were not clean, that is, they hadn’t [ceremonially] washed them. ³ ([For] The Pharisees and all the Jews never eat before washing their hands ·in the way required [^Lwith a fist; ^Cthe meaning of the idiom is uncertain; it could mean “with a handful of water,” “with cupped hand,” “up to the wrist” or something else] by ·their unwritten laws [^Lthe traditions of the elders]. ⁴ ·And when they buy something in the market, they never eat it [or, And when they come from the market (where they might have touched something “unclean”), they do not eat] until they wash themselves in a special way. They also ·follow [hold fast to; observe] many other ·unwritten laws [traditions], such as the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots.^[a])

⁵ The Pharisees and the ·teachers of the law [scribes] asked Jesus, “Why don’t your ·followers [disciples] ·obey [walk according to] the ·unwritten laws which have been handed down to us [traditions of the elders]? Why do they eat their food with hands that are ·not clean [defiled]?”

⁶ Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right when he ·spoke [prophesied] about you hypocrites. ·He wrote [As it is written],

⁸ You ·have stopped following [neglected; abandoned] the commands of God, and you ·follow [hold on to] only human ·teachings^[b] [traditions].”

⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “You ·cleverly ignore [are very good at ignoring/despising] the commands of God so you can follow your own ·teachings [tradition]. ¹⁰ [For] Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ [Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16], and ‘Anyone who ·says cruel things to [speaks evil of; curses] his father or mother must be put to death’ [Ex. 21:17; Lev. 20:9]. ¹¹ But you say a person can tell his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you, but it is Corban—a gift to God.’ [^CCorban is a Hebrew term meaning dedicated or set aside to God.] ¹² You no longer let that person ·use that money [do anything] for his father or his mother. ¹³ By your own ·rules [tradition], which you ·teach people [have handed down], you are ·rejecting [nullifying; canceling] what God said. And you do many things like that.”