What Defiles a Person

Matthew 15

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, q "Hear and understand: 11 r 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 s offended when they heard this saying?" 13 He answered, t "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted u will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; v they are blind guides. 1 And w if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit." 15 But Peter said to him, x "Explain the parable to us." 16 And he said, y "Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that z whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 2 18 But a what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come b evil thoughts, c murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, d slander. 20 e These are what defile a person. But f to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone."

  1. Cross References
    Matthew 13:51
    "Have you understood all these things?" They said to him, "Yes."
  2. Cross References
    Acts 10:14 - 15
    But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.
  3. Cross References
    Matthew 13:57
    And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.
    Luke 7:23
    And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 60:21
    Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.
    Isaiah 61:3
    To grant to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
    John 15:1 - 2
    I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
    1 Corinthians 3:9
    For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
  5. Cross References
    Jude 1:12
    These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted.
  6. Cross References
    Matthew 23:16
    "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
    Matthew 23:24
    You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
    Isaiah 56:10
    His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
    Malachi 2:8
    But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts.
  7. Cross References
    Luke 6:39
    He also told them a parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
  8. Cross References
    Matthew 13:36
    Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.
  9. Cross References
    Matthew 16:9
    Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?
  10. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 6:13
    Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food" - and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
  11. Cross References
    Matthew 12:34
    You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
    James 3:6
    And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
  12. Cross References
    James 2:4
    Have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
  13. Cross References
    Matthew 5:22
    But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
    Matthew 5:28
    But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
    Exodus 20:13 - 16
    You shall not murder.
  14. Cross References
    Ephesians 4:31
    Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
    Colossians 3:8
    But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
    1 Timothy 6:4
    He is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions.
  15. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 6:9 - 10
    Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality.
  16. Cross References
    Mark 7:2
    They saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.
    Mark 7:5
    And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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