Matthew 15:10-20 - Defilement From Within

¹⁰ And he called the people to him and said to them, ¹¹ "Listen to this, and grasp it! It is not what goes into a man's mouth that pollutes him; it is what comes out of his mouth that pollutes a man."

¹² Then his disciples came up to him and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were shocked to hear you say that?"

¹³ But he answered, "Any plant that my heavenly Father did not plant must be uprooted! ¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides! But if one blind man leads another, they will both fall into the ditch!"

¹⁵ Peter said to him, "Explain the figure for us."

¹⁶ He said, "Have even you no understanding yet? ¹⁷ Can you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is disposed of? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they pollute a man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come wicked designs, murder, adultery, immorality, stealing, false witness, impious speech. ²⁰ It is these things that pollute a man, but not eating with unwashed hands!"

¹⁴ He called the people to him again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand this. ¹⁵ Nothing that goes into a man from outside can pollute him. It is what comes out of a man that pollutes him." ¹⁶ OMITTED TEXT

¹⁷ When he had left the crowd and gone home, his disciples asked him what he meant by this figure. ¹⁸ And he said to them, "Have not even you any understanding then? Do you not see that nothing that goes into a man from outside can pollute him, ¹⁹ since it does not go into his heart but into his stomach and then is disposed of?" So he declared all food clean. ²⁰ He went on to say, "It is what comes out of a man that pollutes him. ²¹ For it is from inside, from men's hearts, that designs of evil come; immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, ²² greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, abusiveness, arrogance, folly??23 all these evils come from inside, and they pollute a man."