Matthew 15:1–9

¹Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ²“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”

³Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^a and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’^{b 5}But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ ⁶he need not honor his father or mother with it.^c Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:

⁸‘These people honor Me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from Me.

⁹They worship Me in vain;

they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’^d”