Matthew 15:1-9 - Human Traditions And God's Commandments

¹ Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus, and asked Him, ² "Why do your disciples break the rules handed down by our forefathers? For they do not practice washing their hands when they take their meals."

³ But He answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you? ⁴ For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.'

⁵ But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Everything I have that might be used for helping you, is devoted to God," ⁶ is under no obligation at all to help his parent.' So you have set aside what God has said for the sake of what has been handed down to you. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied beautifully about you, when he said:

⁸ "'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me; ⁹ Their worship of me is an empty show; the things they teach are only men's precepts.'"

¹ The Pharisees met about Him, and also some scribes who had come from Jerusalem. ² They had noticed that some of His disciples were in the habit of eating their meals without first giving their hands a ceremonial washing to make them clean. ³ For the Pharisees and all the Jews practice the customs handed down to them from their forefathers, ⁴ and will never eat until they have carefully washed their hands, and they never eat anything brought from the market until they wash it; and they have many other religious practices which they got from their forefathers, as the washing of cups, pitchers, and pans. ⁵ And so the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, "Why is it that your disciples do not practice the customs handed down from our forefathers, but eat their meals without purifying their hands?"

⁶ But He answered them, "Isaiah beautifully prophesied about you hypocrites; as the Scripture says: "'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me; ⁷ Their worship of me is but an empty show; the things they teach are but men's precepts.'

⁸ "You give up what God has commanded, ⁹ you cling to what men hand down. You are fine teachers to cancel what God commanded, in order to keep what men have handed down! ¹⁰ For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and again, 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death,'

¹¹ but you say if a man tells his father or mother, 'Everything I have that may be of use to you is Corban,' that is, consecrated to God, ¹² you let him off from doing anything more for his father or mother; ¹³ and so you set aside what God has said by what you have handed down. You have many other practices like these."