Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus, and asked Him, "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." But He answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you? read more.
For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.' But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Everything I have that might be used for helping you, is devoted to God," 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. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied beautifully about you, when he said: "'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me; Their worship of me is an empty show; the things they teach are only men's precepts.'" And He called the people to Him and said, "Listen to this and learn it! It is not what goes into a man's mouth that makes him foul; no, it is what comes out of a man's mouth that makes him foul." Then His disciples came up to Him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were knocked breathless to hear what you have just said?" He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant must be rooted up. Let them alone. They are blind teachers! And if one blind man guides another, they will both fall into the ditch." Then Peter said to Him, "Explain the maxim for us." And He said, "Are you too, even yet, without understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and afterwards into the waste? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they make the man foul. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, immorality, stealing, false witnessing, irreverent speech. These are the things that make a man foul, but eating with unwashed hands does not make a man foul."

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. For the Pharisees and all the Jews practice the customs handed down to them from their forefathers, 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. read more.
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?" 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; Their worship of me is but an empty show; the things they teach are but men's precepts.' "You give up what God has commanded, 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! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and again, 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death,' 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, you let him off from doing anything more for his father or mother; and so you set aside what God has said by what you have handed down. You have many other practices like these." Again He called the people to Him and said, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from the outside can make him foul, but the things that come from the inside of a man are the things that make him foul." Omitted Text. Now when He had left the crowd and gone home, His disciples were asking Him the meaning of this story. And He answered them, "Are you too without understanding yet? Do you not know that nothing from the outside that goes into a man can make him foul, because it does not reach his heart but only his stomach, and then passes off into the waste?" In thus speaking He made all foods clean. He kept on saying, "The thing that comes from the inside of a man is the thing that makes him foul, for from the inside, that is, from the hearts of men, designs for doing evil come, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, abusiveness, haughtiness, thoughtlessness. All these evils come from the inside of a man and make him foul."


Then Peter said to Him, "Explain the maxim for us." And He said, "Are you too, even yet, without understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and afterwards into the waste? read more.
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they make the man foul. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, immorality, stealing, false witnessing, irreverent speech. These are the things that make a man foul, but eating with unwashed hands does not make a man foul."

Now when He had left the crowd and gone home, His disciples were asking Him the meaning of this story. And He answered them, "Are you too without understanding yet? Do you not know that nothing from the outside that goes into a man can make him foul, because it does not reach his heart but only his stomach, and then passes off into the waste?" In thus speaking He made all foods clean. read more.
He kept on saying, "The thing that comes from the inside of a man is the thing that makes him foul, for from the inside, that is, from the hearts of men, designs for doing evil come, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, abusiveness, haughtiness, thoughtlessness. All these evils come from the inside of a man and make him foul."

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am made of flesh that is frail, sold into slavery to sin. Indeed, I do not understand what I do, for I do not practice what I want to do, but I am always doing what I hate. But if I am always doing what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is right. read more.
Now really it is not I that am doing these things, but it is sin which has its home within me. For I know that nothing good has its home in me; that is, in my lower self; I have the will but not the power to do what is right. Indeed, I do not do the good things that I want to do, but I do practice the evil things that I do not want to do. But if I do the things that I do not want to do, it is really not I that am doing these things, but it is sin which has its home within me. So I find this law: When I want to do right, the wrong is always in my way. For in accordance with my better inner nature I approve God's law, but I see another power operating in my lower nature in conflict with the power operated by my reason, which makes me a prisoner to the power of sin which is operating in my lower nature.


Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus, and asked Him, "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." But He answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you? read more.
For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.' But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Everything I have that might be used for helping you, is devoted to God," 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. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied beautifully about you, when he said: "'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me; Their worship of me is an empty show; the things they teach are only men's precepts.'" And He called the people to Him and said, "Listen to this and learn it! It is not what goes into a man's mouth that makes him foul; no, it is what comes out of a man's mouth that makes him foul." Then His disciples came up to Him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were knocked breathless to hear what you have just said?" He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant must be rooted up. Let them alone. They are blind teachers! And if one blind man guides another, they will both fall into the ditch." Then Peter said to Him, "Explain the maxim for us." And He said, "Are you too, even yet, without understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and afterwards into the waste? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they make the man foul. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, immorality, stealing, false witnessing, irreverent speech. These are the things that make a man foul, but eating with unwashed hands does not make a man foul."

The Pharisees met about Him, and also some scribes who had come from Jerusalem. 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. For the Pharisees and all the Jews practice the customs handed down to them from their forefathers, read more.
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. 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?" 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; Their worship of me is but an empty show; the things they teach are but men's precepts.' "You give up what God has commanded, 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! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and again, 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death,' 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, you let him off from doing anything more for his father or mother; and so you set aside what God has said by what you have handed down. You have many other practices like these." Again He called the people to Him and said, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from the outside can make him foul, but the things that come from the inside of a man are the things that make him foul." Omitted Text. Now when He had left the crowd and gone home, His disciples were asking Him the meaning of this story. And He answered them, "Are you too without understanding yet? Do you not know that nothing from the outside that goes into a man can make him foul, because it does not reach his heart but only his stomach, and then passes off into the waste?" In thus speaking He made all foods clean. He kept on saying, "The thing that comes from the inside of a man is the thing that makes him foul, for from the inside, that is, from the hearts of men, designs for doing evil come, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, abusiveness, haughtiness, thoughtlessness. All these evils come from the inside of a man and make him foul."




Whoever, therefore, breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others so to do, will be ranked as least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices them and teaches others so to do, will be ranked as great in the kingdom of heaven.

"The scribes and Pharisees have taken Moses' seat as teachers. So everything they tell you, do and practice, but stop doing what they do, for they preach but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens and fasten them on men's shoulders, but they refuse to lift a finger to help bear them. read more.
They do what they do to attract people's attention. They wear on their coats Scripture texts in big letters, and they wear large tassels, and they like the places of honor at feasts and the front seats in synagogues, to be greeted with honor in public places, and to have men call them 'Teacher.' But as for you, you must not seek for others to call you 'Teacher,' for you have but one who is 'Teacher,' and you are all brothers. And you must not call anyone on earth 'father,' for the Heavenly One is your Father. And you must not be called 'leaders,' for you have only one Leader, and that is Christ. Whoever is greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. "A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees! For you bolt the doors of the kingdom of heaven in men's faces, for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you let those who are trying to do so go in. Omitted Text. A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees! For you scour land and sea to win a single convert, and when he is won you make him twice as fit for the pit as you are. A curse on you, you blind leaders who say, 'Whoever swears by the sanctuary is not duty-bound, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is duty-bound.' You blind fools! which is greater, the gold, or the sanctuary that makes the gold sacred? You say, 'Whoever swears by the altar is not duty-bound, but whoever swears by the offering on the altar is duty-bound!' You blind men! which is greater, the offering, or the altar that makes the offering sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by everything on it; whoever swears by the sanctuary swears by it and by Him who dwells in it; whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. "A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees! For you pay tithes on mint and dill and cummin, and yet leave out the more vital matters of the law, justice, love and fidelity. These latter especially you ought to have done, but ought not to have left out the former. You blind leaders, who are straining out the gnat but gulping down the camel! A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of your greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisees! You must first clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may be clean too. "A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you are like white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead people's bones and everything that is unclean! So you, too, on the outside seem to people to be upright, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. "A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you build tombs for the prophets, and decorate monuments for the upright, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have been sharers with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you are witnessing against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Then fill up to the brim the cup of your forefathers' guilt! You serpents! You brood of vipers! How can you escape a sentence to the pit!

"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." But He answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.' read more.
But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Everything I have that might be used for helping you, is devoted to God," 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. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied beautifully about you, when he said: "'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me; Their worship of me is an empty show; the things they teach are only men's precepts.'" And He called the people to Him and said, "Listen to this and learn it! It is not what goes into a man's mouth that makes him foul; no, it is what comes out of a man's mouth that makes him foul." Then His disciples came up to Him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were knocked breathless to hear what you have just said?" He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant must be rooted up. Let them alone. They are blind teachers! And if one blind man guides another, they will both fall into the ditch." Then Peter said to Him, "Explain the maxim for us." And He said, "Are you too, even yet, without understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and afterwards into the waste? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they make the man foul. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, immorality, stealing, false witnessing, irreverent speech. These are the things that make a man foul, but eating with unwashed hands does not make a man foul."

The Pharisee noticed that He did not first wash before lunch, and was surprised. But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees have the habit of cleaning the outside of your cups and dishes, but inside you yourselves are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside too? read more.
But dedicate once for all your inner self, and at once you will have everything clean. But a curse on you Pharisees, because you pay tithes on mint, rue, and every tiny garden herb, but neglect justice and the love of God! These latter especially you ought to have done, but ought not to have neglected the former. A curse on you Pharisees, because you like to have the front seats in synagogues, and to be greeted with honor in public places! A curse on you, because you are like unmarked graves which men walk over without knowing it!" Then an expert in the law interrupted Him and said, "Teacher, in saying this you are insulting us, too." He said, "Yes, a curse on you experts in the law, too, because you load people down with loads too heavy to carry, and yet you do not touch the loads yourselves with one of your fingers! A curse on you, because you build monuments for the prophets, whom your forefathers killed! So you testify to what your forefathers did and approve it, because they killed them and you build monuments for them. This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will persecute'; so that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the creation of the world may be charged against the men of this age -- from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against the men of this age. A curse on you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to the door of knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you kept out those who tried to get in."


to stop devoting themselves to myths and never-ending pedigrees, for such things lead to controversies rather than stimulate our trusteeship to God through faith.


But He answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.' But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Everything I have that might be used for helping you, is devoted to God," read more.
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. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied beautifully about you, when he said: "'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me; Their worship of me is an empty show; the things they teach are only men's precepts.'" And He called the people to Him and said, "Listen to this and learn it! It is not what goes into a man's mouth that makes him foul; no, it is what comes out of a man's mouth that makes him foul." Then His disciples came up to Him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were knocked breathless to hear what you have just said?" He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant must be rooted up. Let them alone. They are blind teachers! And if one blind man guides another, they will both fall into the ditch." Then Peter said to Him, "Explain the maxim for us." And He said, "Are you too, even yet, without understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and afterwards into the waste? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they make the man foul. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, immorality, stealing, false witnessing, irreverent speech. These are the things that make a man foul, but eating with unwashed hands does not make a man foul."