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Mark 7:3–9

3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands diligently, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders; 4and when they come from the marketplace, except they bathe themselves, they eat not; and many other things there are, which they have received to hold, washings of cups, and pots, and brasen vessels.) 5And the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands? 6And he said unto them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

This people honoreth me with their lips,

But their heart is far from me.

7But in vain do they worship me,

Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.

8Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men. 9And he said unto them, Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition.

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Mark 7:3–9 — The New International Version (NIV)

(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

He replied, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.’

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

And he continued, You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!

Mark 7:3–9 — English Standard Version (ESV)

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“ ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

in vain do they worship me,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

And he said to them, You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

Mark 7:3–9 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Mark 7:3–9 — New Living Translation (NLT)

(The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

Jesus replied, You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship is a farce,

for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

Then he said, You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.

Mark 7:3–9 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.

Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”

He answered and said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far from Me.

And in vain they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of menthe washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

He said to them, All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

Mark 7:3–9 — New Century Version (NCV)

(The Pharisees and all the Jews never eat before washing their hands in the way required by their unwritten laws. And when they buy something in the market, they never eat it until they wash themselves in a special way. They also follow many other unwritten laws, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots. )

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law said to Jesus, “Why don’t your followers obey the unwritten laws which have been handed down to us? Why do your followers eat their food with hands that are not clean?”

Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right when he spoke about you hypocrites. He wrote,

‘These people show honor to me with words,

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me is worthless.

The things they teach are nothing but human rules.’

You have stopped following the commands of God, and you follow only human teachings.”

Then Jesus said to them, “You cleverly ignore the commands of God so you can follow your own teachings.

Mark 7:3–9 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

(for the Pharisees and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands diligently, do not eat, holding what has been delivered by the ancients; and on coming from the market-place, unless they are washed, they do not eat; and there are many other things which they have received to hold, the washing of cups and vessels, and brazen utensils, and couches), then the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, Why do thy disciples not walk according to what has been delivered by the ancients, but eat the bread with defiled hands? But he answering said to them, Well did Esaias prophesy concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honour me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their teachings commandments of men. For, leaving the commandment of God, ye hold what is delivered by men to keepwashings of vessels and cups, and many other such like things ye do. And he said to them, Well do ye set aside the commandment of God, that ye may observe what is delivered by yourselves to keep.

Mark 7:3–9 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

(The Pharisees, like all other Jewish people, don’t eat unless they have properly washed their hands. They follow the traditions of their ancestors. When they come from the marketplace, they don’t eat unless they have washed first. They have been taught to follow many other rules. For example, they must also wash their cups, jars, brass pots, and dinner tables.) 

The Pharisees and the experts in Moses’ Teachings asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples follow the traditions taught by our ancestors? They are unclean because they don’t wash their hands before they eat!” 

Jesus told them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites in Scripture: 

‘These people honor me with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from me. 

Their worship of me is pointless, 

because their teachings are rules made by humans.’ 

“You abandon the commandments of God to follow human traditions.” He added, “You have no trouble rejecting the commandments of God in order to keep your own traditions!

Mark 7:3–9 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

(For the Pharisees, in fact all the Jews, will not eat unless they wash their hands ritually, keeping the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, jugs, copper utensils, and dining couches. ) Then the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why don’t Your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with ritually unclean hands?”

He answered them, Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

These people honor Me with their lips,

but their heart is far from Me.

They worship Me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commands of men.

Disregarding the command of God, you keep the tradition of men.” He also said to them, You completely invalidate God’s command in order to maintain your tradition!

Mark 7:3–9 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

This people honors me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me;

in vain do they worship me,

teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

Then he said to them, You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!

Mark 7:3–9 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands ritually, thus holding fast to the traditions of the elders. And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions which they have received and hold fast to—for example, the washing of cups and pitchers and bronze kettles and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unclean hands?” So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far, far away from me.

And they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men.”

And he said to them, “You splendidly ignore the commandment of God so that you can keep your tradition.

Mark 7:3–9 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands to make them pure. That’s what the elders teach. When they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they wash. And they follow many other teachings. For example, they wash cups, pitchers, and kettles in a special way.

So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law questioned Jesus. “Why don’t your disciples live by what the elders teach?” they asked. “Why do they eat their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”

He replied, “Isaiah was right. He prophesied about you people who pretend to be good. He said,

“ ‘These people honor me by what they say.

But their hearts are far away from me.

Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me.

They teach nothing but human rules.’

You have let go of God’s commands. And you are holding on to the teachings that men have made up.”

Jesus then said to them, “You have a fine way of setting aside God’s commands! You do this so you can follow your own teachings.

Mark 7:3–9 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders;

and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.)

The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?”

And He said to them, Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

But in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’

Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

He was also saying to them, You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.


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