Matthew 15:10-20 - Defilement From Within

¹⁰ And he got the people together and said to them, Give ear, and let my words be clear to you: ¹¹ Not that which goes into the mouth makes a man unclean, but that which comes out of the mouth.

¹² Then the disciples came and said to him, Did you see that the Pharisees were troubled when these words came to their ears?

¹³ But he said in answer, Every plant which my Father in heaven has not put in the earth, will be taken up by the roots. ¹⁴ Let them be: they are blind guides. And if a blind man is guiding a blind man, the two will go falling into a hole together.

¹⁵ Then Peter said to him, Make the story clear to us.

¹⁶ And he said, Are you, like them, still without wisdom? ¹⁷ Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth goes on into the stomach, and is sent out as waste? ¹⁸ But the things which come out of the mouth come from the heart; and they make a man unclean. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, the taking of life, broken faith between the married, unclean desires of the flesh, taking of property, false witness, bitter words: ²⁰ These are the things which make a man unclean; but to take food with unwashed hands does not make a man unclean.

¹⁴ And turning to the people again, he said to them, Give ear to me all of you, and let my words be clear to you: ¹⁵ There is nothing outside the man which, going into him, is able to make him unclean: but the things which come out of the man are those which make the man unclean. ¹⁶ This verse ommitted from translation

¹⁷ And when he had gone into the house away from all the people, his disciples put questions to him about the saying. ¹⁸ And he said to them, Have even you so little wisdom? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside is not able to make him unclean, ¹⁹ Because it goes not into the heart but into the stomach, and goes out with the waste? He said this, making all food clean. ²⁰ And he said, That which comes out of the man, that makes the man unclean. ²¹ Because from inside, from the heart of men, come evil thoughts and unclean pleasures, ²² The taking of goods and of life, broken faith between husband and wife, the desire of wealth, wrongdoing, deceit, sins of the flesh, an evil eye, angry words, pride, foolish acts: ²³ All these evil things come from inside, and make the man unclean.