The Tradition of the Elders
1 Then Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked,
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"Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don't wash their hands when they eat!"
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He answered them, "And why do you break God's commandment because of your tradition?
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For God said: Honor your father and your mother; and, The one who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.
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But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift [committed to the temple]"-
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he does not have to honor his father.' In this way, you have revoked God's word because of your tradition.
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Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
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These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
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They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men. "
Defilement Is from Within
10 Summoning the crowd, He told them, "Listen and understand:
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It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."
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Then the disciples came up and told Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this statement?"
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He replied, "Every plant that My heavenly Father didn't plant will be uprooted.
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Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit."
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Then Peter replied to Him, "Explain this parable to us."
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"Are even you still lacking in understanding?" He asked.
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"Don't you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated?
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But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man.
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For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies.
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These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man."