Isaiah 29:13-24

New International Version

¹³The Lord says:

“These people^(A) come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,^(B)
    but their hearts are far from me.^(C)
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.^[a]^(D)
¹⁴Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;^(E)
the wisdom of the wise^(F) will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.^(G)”
¹⁵Woe to those who go to great depths
    to hide^(H) their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
    “Who sees us?^(I) Who will know?”^(J)
¹⁶You turn things upside down,
    as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!^(K)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed^(L) it,
    “You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,^(M)
    “You know nothing”?^(N)

¹⁷In a very short time,^(O) will not Lebanon^(P) be turned into a fertile field^(Q)
    and the fertile field seem like a forest?^(R)
¹⁸In that day^(S) the deaf^(T) will hear the words of the scroll,
    and out of gloom and darkness^(U)
    the eyes of the blind will see.^(V)
¹⁹Once more the humble^(W) will rejoice in the Lord;
    the needy^(X) will rejoice in the Holy One^(Y) of Israel.
²⁰The ruthless^(Z) will vanish,^(AA)
    the mockers^(AB) will disappear,
    and all who have an eye for evil^(AC) will be cut down—
²¹those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
    who ensnare the defender in court^(AD)
    and with false testimony^(AE) deprive the innocent of justice.^(AF)

²²Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed^(AG) Abraham,^(AH) says to the descendants of Jacob:

“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;^(AI)
    no longer will their faces grow pale.^(AJ)
²³When they see among them their children,^(AK)
    the work of my hands,^(AL)
they will keep my name holy;^(AM)
    they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One^(AN) of Jacob,
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴Those who are wayward^(AO) in spirit will gain understanding;^(AP)
    those who complain will accept instruction.”^(AQ)

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Footnotes

Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules

Matthew 15:1-20

New International Version

That Which Defiles^(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ²“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”^(B)

³Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a]^(C) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^[b]^(D) ⁵But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

⁸“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
⁹They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.^(E)’^[c]^(F)”

¹⁰Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,^(G) but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”^(H)

¹²Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted^(I) will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴Leave them; they are blind guides.^[d]^(J) If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”^(K)

¹⁵Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”^(L)

¹⁶“Are you still so dull?”^(M) Jesus asked them. ¹⁷“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,^(N) and these defile them. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.^(O) ²⁰These are what defile a person;^(P) but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”