¹⁴ Jesus called the people to Him again. He said, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand this. ¹⁵ It is not what goes into a man’s mouth from the outside that makes his mind and heart sinful. It is what comes out from the inside that makes him sinful. ¹⁶ You have ears, then listen!”

¹⁷ He went into the house away from all the people. His followers began to ask about the picture-story. ¹⁸ He said to them, “Do you not understand yet? Do you not understand that whatever goes into a man cannot make him sinful? ¹⁹ It does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and then on out of his body.” In this way, He was saying that all food is clean. ²⁰ He said, “Whatever comes out of a man is what makes the man sinful. ²¹ From the inside, out of the heart of men come bad thoughts, sex sins of a married person, sex sins of a person not married, killing other people, ²² stealing, wanting something that belongs to someone else, doing wrong, lying, having a desire for sex sins, having a mind that is always looking for sin, speaking against God, thinking you are better than you are and doing foolish things. ²³ All these bad things come from the inside and make the man sinful.”