New Testament in a Year
7 Then the Pharisees returned to talk with Jesus, and with them came some of the scribes and scholars from Jerusalem.
Scribes and Scholars (seeing the disciples eating): 2 Your disciples are eating bread with defiled, unwashed hands.
3 Now you need to know that the Pharisees, and all Jews for that matter, held the tradition of their ancestors that hands must be washed before eating to avoid being ritually unclean. 4 Likewise, they washed when they returned from the market and followed similar purity teachings as well, from the washing of their food to the washing of their bowls, cups, and kettles.
Scribes and Pharisees: 5 Why don’t Your disciples follow the traditions passed down to us? Why do they eat their bread with defiled hands?
Jesus: 6 Isaiah prophesied wisely about your religious pretensions when he wrote,
These people honor Me with words off their lips;
meanwhile their hearts are far from Me.
7 Their worship is empty, void of true devotion.
They teach a human commandment, memorized and practiced by rote.[a]
8 When you cling blindly to your own traditions [such as washing utensils and cups],[b] you completely miss God’s command. 9 Then, indeed, you have perfected setting aside God’s commands for the sake of your tradition. 10 Moses gave you God’s commandment: “Honor your father and your mother.”[c] And also, “If you curse your father or your mother, you will be put to death.”[d] 11 But you say to your aged parents, “I’ve decided that the support you were expecting from me will now be the holy offering set aside for God.” 12 After that he is not allowed to do anything for his parents. 13 Do you think God wants you to honor your traditions that you have passed down? This is only one of many places where you are blind.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.