20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds (A)that of the scribes and Pharisees, you (B)will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.(A)

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He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, (A)‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, (B)‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”[a] he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have (C)made void the word[b] of God. (D)You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

(E)“‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as (F)doctrines the commandments of men.’”

What Defiles a Person

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, (G)“Hear and understand: 11 (H)it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were (I)offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, (J)“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted (K)will be rooted up.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 15:5 Or is an offering
  2. Matthew 15:6 Some manuscripts law

Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a](A) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b](B) But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.(C)[c](D)

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,(E) but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”(F)

12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted(G) will be pulled up by the roots.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
  2. Matthew 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
  3. Matthew 15:9 Isaiah 29:13