Matthew 15:1–20

¹Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ²“Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” ³He answered them, “And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.’ ⁵But you say, ‘If any one tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God,^o he need not honor his father.’ ⁶So, for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word^p of God. ⁷You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

⁸‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

⁹in vain do they worship me,

teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”

¹⁰And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: ¹¹not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” ¹²Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” ¹³He answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. ¹⁴Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” ¹⁶And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and so passes on?¹⁸But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. ²⁰These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”