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Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him,
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“Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”
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Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?
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For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’
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But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’
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In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.
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You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
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‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
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Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ ”
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Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand.