Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁷ Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes down from above, from the father of lights. His steady light doesn’t vary. It doesn’t change and produce shadows. ¹⁸ He became our father by the word of truth; that was his firm decision, and the result is that we are a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

The word that goes to work

¹⁹ So, my dear brothers and sisters, get this straight. Every person should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. ²⁰ Human anger, you see, doesn’t produce God’s justice! ²¹ So put away everything that is sordid, all overflowing malice, and humbly receive the word which has been planted within you and which has the power to rescue your lives.

²² But be people who do the word, not merely people who hear it and deceive themselves. ²³ Someone who hears the word but doesn’t do it, you see, is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ He notices himself, but then he goes away and quickly forgets what he looked like. ²⁵ But the person who looks into the perfect law of freedom, and goes on with it, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer who does the deed—such a person is blessed in their doing.

²⁶ If anyone supposes that they are devout, and does not control their tongue, but rather deceives their heart—such a person’s devotion is futile. ²⁷ As far as God the father is concerned, pure, unsullied devotion works like this: you should visit orphans and widows in their sorrow, and prevent the world leaving its dirty smudge on you.

God’s law and human tradition

7 The Pharisees gathered round Jesus, together with some legal experts from Jerusalem. ² They saw that some of his disciples were eating their food with unclean (that is, unwashed) hands.

³ (The Pharisees, you see—and indeed all the Jews—don’t eat unless they first carefully wash their hands. This is to maintain the tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come in from the market, they never eat without washing. There are many other traditions which they observe: washings of cups, pots and bronze dishes.)

⁵ Anyway, the Pharisees and legal experts asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples follow the tradition of the elders? Why do they eat their food with unwashed hands?”

⁶ “Isaiah summed you up just right,” Jesus replied. “What hypocrites you are! What he said was this:

⁸ “You abandon God’s commands, and keep human tradition!

Clean and unclean

¹⁴ Jesus summoned the crowd again.

“Listen to me, all of you,” he said, “and get this straight. ¹⁵ What goes into you from outside can’t make you unclean. What makes you unclean is what comes out from inside.”

²¹ Evil intentions come from inside, out of people’s hearts—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, wickedness, treachery, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, stupidity. ²³ These evil things all come from inside. They are what make someone unclean.”