Matthew 15:1-11 ▼

1 Then Pharisees and experts in the law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said,

2 Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don't wash their hands when they eat.|

3 He answered them, |And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?

4 For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.'

5 But you say, 'If someone tells his father or mother, |Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,|

6 he does not need to honor his father.' You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition.

7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,

8 This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me,

9 and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'|

10 Then he called the crowd to him and said, |Listen and understand.

11 What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.|