Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



"Why do your disciples break the rules handed down by our ancestors? For they eat their bread without first washing their hands."

You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied finely about you when he said, " 'This people honor me with their lips, Yet their hearts are far away from me. But their worship of me is all in vain, For the lessons they teach are but human precepts.' "

The Pharisees gathered about him with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem. They had noticed that some of his disciples ate their food without first giving their hands a ceremonial washing to purify them. For the Pharisees and all the Jews observe the rules handed down from their ancestors, and will not eat until they have washed their hands in a particular way,


Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, and said to him, "Why do your disciples break the rules handed down by our ancestors? For they eat their bread without first washing their hands." But he answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of what has been handed down to you? read more.
For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'He who abuses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Anything of mine that might have been of use to you is given to God," does not have to provide for his father.' So you have nullified what God has said, for the sake of what has been handed down to you. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied finely about you when he said, " 'This people honor me with their lips, Yet their hearts are far away from me. But their worship of me is all in vain, For the lessons they teach are but human precepts.' " And he called the people to him and said to them, "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." Then his disciples came up to him and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were shocked to hear you say that?" But he answered, "Any plant that my heavenly Father did not plant must be uprooted! Leave them alone. They are blind guides! But if one blind man leads another, they will both fall into the ditch!" Peter said to him, "Explain the figure for us." He said, "Have even you no understanding yet? Can you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is disposed of? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they pollute a man. For out of the heart come wicked designs, murder, adultery, immorality, stealing, false witness, impious speech. It is these things that pollute a man, but not eating with unwashed hands!"

The Pharisees gathered about him with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem. They had noticed that some of his disciples ate their food without first giving their hands a ceremonial washing to purify them. For the Pharisees and all the Jews observe the rules handed down from their ancestors, and will not eat until they have washed their hands in a particular way, read more.
and they will not eat anything from the market without first purifying it by sprinkling it, and they have a number of other observances which have come down to them, in the way of washing cups, pitchers, and basins. And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not observe the rules handed down by our ancestors, but eat food without purifying their hands?" But he said to them, "It was about you hypocrites that Isaiah prophesied so finely, in the words, " 'This people honor me with their lips, Yet their hearts are far away from me. But their worship of me is all in vain, For the lessons they teach are but human precepts.' "You give up what God has commanded and hold fast to what men have handed down. "How skilful you are," he said to them, "in nullifying what God has commanded in order to observe what has been handed down to you. For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and again, 'Whoever abuses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Anything of mine that might have been of use to you is Korban," ' that is, consecrated to God, you let him off from doing anything more for his father or mother, and so you nullify what God has said by what you have handed down. You have many such practices." He called the people to him again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand this. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can pollute him. It is what comes out of a man that pollutes him." OMITTED TEXT When he had left the crowd and gone home, his disciples asked him what he meant by this figure. 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, since it does not go into his heart but into his stomach and then is disposed of?" So he declared all food clean. He went on to say, "It is what comes out of a man that pollutes him. For it is from inside, from men's hearts, that designs of evil come; immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, abusiveness, arrogance, folly??23 all these evils come from inside, and they pollute a man."


Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, and said to him, "Why do your disciples break the rules handed down by our ancestors? For they eat their bread without first washing their hands." But he answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of what has been handed down to you?

The Pharisees gathered about him with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem. They had noticed that some of his disciples ate their food without first giving their hands a ceremonial washing to purify them. For the Pharisees and all the Jews observe the rules handed down from their ancestors, and will not eat until they have washed their hands in a particular way, read more.
and they will not eat anything from the market without first purifying it by sprinkling it, and they have a number of other observances which have come down to them, in the way of washing cups, pitchers, and basins. And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not observe the rules handed down by our ancestors, but eat food without purifying their hands?" But he said to them, "It was about you hypocrites that Isaiah prophesied so finely, in the words, " 'This people honor me with their lips, Yet their hearts are far away from me. But their worship of me is all in vain, For the lessons they teach are but human precepts.' "You give up what God has commanded and hold fast to what men have handed down. "How skilful you are," he said to them, "in nullifying what God has commanded in order to observe what has been handed down to you. For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and again, 'Whoever abuses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Anything of mine that might have been of use to you is Korban," ' that is, consecrated to God, you let him off from doing anything more for his father or mother, and so you nullify what God has said by what you have handed down. You have many such practices." He called the people to him again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand this. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can pollute him. It is what comes out of a man that pollutes him."