8ADONAI spoke to Aaron saying: 9“Do not drink wine or fermented drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, so that you do not die. This is to be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10You are to make a distinction between the holy and the common and between the unclean and the clean. 11And you are to teach Bnei-Yisrael all the statutes which ADONAI has spoken to them through Moses.”

1Then some Pharisees and Torah scholars came to Yeshua from Jerusalem. They said, 2“Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not do the ritual handwashing when they eat bread.”

3And answering, He said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.’ 5But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever you might have gained from me is a gift to God,” 6he need not honor his father.’ On account of your tradition, you made void the word of God. 7Hypocrites! Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying,

8‘This people honors Me

with their lips,

but their heart is far from Me.

9And in vain they worship Me,

teaching as doctrines the

commandments of men.’ ”

10Then Yeshua called the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. 11It’s not what goes into the mouth that makes the man unholy; but what comes out of the mouth, this makes the man unholy.”

1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, 2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,

BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

7 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,

TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’

8 “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER’; and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH’; 11 but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16 [If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]

17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.)

18And He said to them, “Are you then also lacking understanding? Don’t you grasp that whatever goes into the man cannot make him unholy? 19For it does not enter into the heart but into the stomach, and then goes out into the sewer, cleansing all foods.”

9The next day, as the soldiers were traveling and approaching the city, Peter went up to the rooftop to pray, at about the sixth hour. 10Now he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance. 11He saw the heavens opened, and something like a great sheet coming down, lowered by its four corners to the earth. 12In it were all sorts of four-footed animals and reptiles and birds of the air.

13A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord! For never have I eaten anything unholy or unclean.”

15Again a voice came to him, a second time: “What God has made clean, you must not consider unholy.” 16This happened three times, and the sheet was immediately taken up to heaven.

24The following day he entered Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25As Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.

26But Peter pulled him up, saying, “Stand up! I too am just a man.”

27Talking with him, Peter went inside and found many people gathered. 28He said to them, “You yourselves know that it is not permitted for a Jewish man to associate with a non-Jew or to visit him. Yet God has shown me that I should call no one unholy or unclean. 29So I came without objection when I was sent for. I ask, then, what is the reason why you sent for me?”

23“Everything is permitted”—but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permitted”—but not everything builds up. 24Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, without raising questions of conscience. 26For “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.” 27If an unbeliever invites you over and you want to go, eat whatever is set before you, without raising questions of conscience.