Matthew 15:8–19

⁸‘These ^gpeople ³draw near to Me with their mouth,

And honor Me with their lips,

But their heart is far from Me.

⁹And in vain they worship Me,

^hTeaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

¹⁰ⁱWhen He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: ^11jNot what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

¹²Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

¹³But He answered and said, ^k“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone. ^lThey are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

^15mThen Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

¹⁶So Jesus said, ⁿ“Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not yet understand that ^owhatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? ¹⁸But ^pthose things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ^19qFor out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.