Matthew 15:11-20

11 "¹It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."

12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?"

13 But He answered and said, "²Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.

14 "Let them alone; ³they are blind guides of the blind. And ⁴if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

The Heart of Man

15 Peter said to Him, "⁵Explain the parable to us."

16 Jesus said, "Are you still lacking in understanding also?

17 "Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated *?

18 "But ⁶the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.

19 "⁷For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.

20 "These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."

Cross References

• 1. Matthew 15:18; Acts 10:14, 15; 1 Timothy 4:3
• 2. Isaiah 60:21; Isaiah 61:3; John 15:2; 1 Corinthians 3:9
• 3. Matthew 23:16, 24
• 4. Luke 6:39
• 5. Matthew 13:36
• 6. Matthew 12:34; Mark 7:20
• 7. Galatians 5:19f

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "caused to stumble"
• [b] Later mss add "of the blind"
• [c] Lit "answered and said"
• [d] Lit "and He"
• [e] Lit "thrown out into the latrine"
• [f] I.e. sexual immorality