Matthew 15:2-20

New International Version

² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”^(A)

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

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

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

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

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

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