Matthew 15:10–20

¹⁰After Jesus called the crowd to him, he said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. ¹¹It is not what people put into their mouths that makes them unclean. It is what comes out of their mouths that makes them unclean.”

¹²Then his followers came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are angry because of what you said?”

¹³Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted himself will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴Stay away from the Pharisees; they are blind leaders. ⁿ And if a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵Peter said, “Explain the example to us.”

¹⁶Jesus said, “Do you still not understand? ¹⁷Surely you know that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then goes out of the body. ¹⁸But what people say with their mouths comes from the way they think; these are the things that make people unclean. ¹⁹Out of the mind come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, lying, and speaking evil of others. ²⁰These things make people unclean; eating with unwashed hands does not make them unclean.”