Traditions and Commandments

15 ^(A)Then Pharisees and ^(B)scribes came to Jesus ^(C)from Jerusalem and said, ^2 (D)“Why do your disciples break ^(E)the tradition of the elders? ^(F)For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” ³ He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God commanded, ^(G)‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ^(H)‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”^{[a] 6} he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have ^(I)made void the word^[b] of God. ^7 (J)You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

¹³ “But woe ^(A)to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you ^(B)shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you ^(C)neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.^{[a] 15} Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single ^(D)proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a ^(E)child of ^(F)hell^[b] as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to ^(G)you, ^(H)blind guides, who say, ^(I)‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or ^(J)the temple that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by ^(K)the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ^(L)the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by ^(M)him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by ^(N)heaven swears by ^(O)the throne of God and by ^(P)him who sits upon it.

^23 (Q)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(R)you tithe mint and dill and ^(S)cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: ^(T)justice and mercy and faithfulness. ^(U)These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ^(V)a camel!

^25 (W)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(X)you clean the outside of ^(Y)the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of ^(Z)greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of ^(AA)the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

^27 (AB)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like ^(AC)whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and ^(AD)all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also ^(AE)outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of ^(AF)hypocrisy and lawlessness.

^29 (AG)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

Traditions and Commandments

7 ^(A)Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes ^(B)who had come from Jerusalem, ² they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were ^(C)defiled, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,^[a] holding to ^(D)the tradition of ^(E)the elders, ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.^[b] And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as ^(F)the washing of ^(G)cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.^[c]) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to ^(H)the tradition of ^(I)the elders, ^(J)but eat with ^(K)defiled hands?” ⁶ And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you ^(L)hypocrites, as it is written,

⁸ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

⁹ And he said to them, “You have a fine way of ^(O)rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ^(P)‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^(Q)‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)^[d]— ¹² then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, ¹³ thus ^(R)making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

¹⁴ And he called the people to him again and said to them, ^(S)“Hear me, all of you, and understand: ^15 (T)There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”^{[e] 17} And when he had entered ^(U)the house and left the people, ^(V)his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then ^(W)are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ since it enters not his heart ^(X)but his stomach, and is expelled?”^[f] (^(Y)Thus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And he said, ^(Z)“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, ^(AA)murder, adultery, ²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, ^(AB)sensuality, ^(AC)envy, ^(AD)slander, ^(AE)pride, ^(AF)foolishness.