Matthew 15:1–20

Human Traditions and God’s Commandments

15Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, ²“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.”^{a 3}So he answered and^* said to them, “Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴For God said, ‘Honor your^* father and your^* mother,’^b and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die^c.’^{d 5}But you say, ‘Whoever says to his^* father or his^* mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received^e from me is a gift to God,” ⁶need not honor his father,’^f and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,

⁸‘This people honors me with their^* lips,

but their heart is far, far away from me,

⁹and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”^g

Defilement from Within

¹⁰And summoning the crowd, he said to them, “Hear and understand: ¹¹It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.” ¹²Then the disciples came and^* said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they^* heard this saying?” ¹³And he answered and^* said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let^h them! They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵But Peter answered and^* said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” ¹⁶But he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not understand that everything that enters into the mouth goes into the stomach and is evacuated into the latrine? ¹⁸But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the person. ¹⁹For from the heart come evil plans, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, abusive speech. ²⁰These are the things that defile a person. But eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person!”