Matthew 15:1–11

What Makes People “Unclean”?

15Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked, ²“Why don’t your disciples obey what the elders teach? Your disciples don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

³Jesus replied, “And why don’t you obey God’s command? You would rather follow your own teachings! ⁴God said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’ He also said, ‘If anyone calls down a curse on his father or mother, he will be put to death.’ ⁵But you allow people to say to their parents, ‘Any help you might have received from us is a gift set apart for God.’ ⁶So they do not need to honor their parents with their gift. You make the word of God useless in order to follow your own teachings.

⁷“You pretenders! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. He said,

⁸“ ‘These people honor me by what they say.

But their hearts are far away from me.

⁹Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me.

They teach nothing but human rules.’ ”

¹⁰Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹What goes into your mouth does not make you ‘unclean.’ It’s what comes out of your mouth that makes you ‘unclean.’ ”