Matthew 15:1-9

Listen to Matthew 15:1-9

1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying,

2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat {a meal}."

3 So he answered [and] said to them, "Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition?

4 For God said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'The one who speaks evil of father or mother {must certainly die}.'

5 But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or his mother, "Whatever {benefit you would have received} from me [is] a gift [to God],"

6 need not honor his father,' and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

7 Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,

8 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me,

9 and they worship me in vain, teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.'"

Footnotes 13

[a] Literally "bread"
[b] *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("answered") has been translated as a finite verb
[c] *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
[d] *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
[e] A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16
[f] Literally "let him die the death"
[g] A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9
[h] *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
[i] *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
[j] Literally "you would have been benefited"
[k] Most later manuscripts add "or his mother"
[l] *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
[m] A quotation from Isa 29:13