Matthew 15:1-10

1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the Law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked him,
2 "Why is it that your disciples disobey the teaching handed down by our ancestors? They don't wash their hands in the proper way before they eat!"
3 Jesus answered, "And why do you disobey God's command and follow your own teaching?
4 For God said, "Respect your father and your mother,' and "If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death.' 1
5 But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father or mother, but say, "This belongs to God,'
6 they do not need to honor their father. In this way you disregard God's command, in order to follow your own teaching.
7 You hypocrites! How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you!
8 "These people, says God, honor me with their words, 2 but their heart is really far away from me.
9 It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!' "
10 Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and understand!

Cross References 2

  • 1. 15.4 aExodus 20.12;Deuteronomy 5.16; bExodus 21.17;Leviticus 20.9.
  • 2. 15.8, 9Isaiah 29.13 (LXX).

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. their father; [some manuscripts have] their father or mother.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.