1
Then the Pharisees, with certain Scribes who had come from Jerusalem, came to Him in a body.
2
They had noticed that some of His disciples were eating their food with `unclean' (that is to say, unwashed) hands.
3
(For the Pharisees and all the Jews--being, as they are, zealous for the traditions of the Elders--never eat without first carefully washing their hands,
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and when they come from market they will not eat without bathing first; and they have a good many other customs which they have received traditionally and cling to, such as the rinsing of cups and pots and of bronze utensils, and the washing of beds.)
5
So the Pharisees and Scribes put the question to Him: "Why do your disciples transgress the traditions of the Elders, and eat their food with unclean hands?"
6
"Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites," He replied; "as it is written, "`This People honour Me with their lips, while their hearts are far away from Me:
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But idle is their devotion while they lay down precepts which are mere human rules.'
8
"You neglect God's Commandment: you hold fast to men's traditions."
9
"Praiseworthy indeed!" He added, "to set at nought God's Commandment in order to observe your own traditions!