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,
4
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:
7
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!
10
For Moses said, `Honour thy father and thy mother' and again, `He who curses father or mother, let him die the death.'
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But *you* say, `If a man says to his father or mother, It is a Korban (that is, a thing devoted to God), whatever it is, which otherwise you would have received from me--'
12
And so you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or mother,
13
thus nullifying God's precept by your tradition which you have handed down. And many things of that kind you do."