Matthew 15:10-20 - Defilement From Within

¹⁰ Then Jesus called the crowds to come to Him, and He said to them, "Listen and understand. ¹¹ It is not what enters the mouth of a person that [spiritually] corrupts him, but what proceeds out of his mouth that [spiritually] corrupts him."

¹² Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were upset [with you] when they heard [you say] that?"

¹³ But He answered and said, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ [So], let these Pharisees alone; they are blind leaders. And if a blind person leads a blind person, both of them will fall into a ditch."

¹⁵ And Peter said to Him, "Explain the parable to us."

¹⁶ And He replied, "Are you still unable to understand? ¹⁷ Do you not realize that whatever enters a person's mouth goes into his stomach and [eventually] passes out into the toilet? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from his heart. These are what [spiritually] corrupt a person. ¹⁹ For evil thoughts, murder, extramarital affairs, sexual immorality, stealing, perjury, slander --- [all these] come from a person's heart, ²⁰ and are what corrupt him [spiritually]. But eating [a meal] with [ceremonially] unwashed hands does not [spiritually] corrupt him."

¹⁴ Then He called the crowd to Him again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand [what I am saying]. ¹⁵ There is nothing that enters a person's body from the outside that can [spiritually] corrupt him, but it is what proceeds out of a person's life that [spiritually] corrupts him." {{Verse ¹⁶ is absent from most ancient manuscripts}}.

¹⁷ And when He had gone into the house away from the crowd His disciples asked Him about this parable. ¹⁸ He said to them, "Are you also as lacking in understanding [as the others]? Do you not understand that whatever enters a person's body from the outside cannot [spiritually] corrupt him? ¹⁹ It is because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and [eventually] passes out into the toilet." By saying this He made all foods [ceremonially] acceptable. ²⁰ And He said, "Whatever proceeds out of a man's life is what [spiritually] corrupts him. ²¹ For from within, out of people's hearts, proceed evil thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, extramarital affairs, ²² greedy desires, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained indecency, envy, slander, arrogance and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things proceed from within [man's heart] and [spiritually] corrupt him."