Matthew 15:11

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.”

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Acts 10:14-15 : 14 But Peter said,“Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and ritually unclean!” 15 The voice spoke to him again, a second time,“What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!”
  • Mark 7:15 : 15 There is nothing outside of a person that can defile him by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles him.”
  • Rom 14:14 : 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; still, it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean.
  • Rom 14:17 : 17 For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
  • Luke 11:38-41 : 38 The Pharisee was astonished when he saw that Jesus did not first wash his hands before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him,“Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside as well? 41 But give from your heart to those in need, and then everything will be clean for you.
  • Matt 12:34-37 : 34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart. 35 The good person brings good things out of his good treasury, and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
  • Matt 15:18-20 : 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.”
  • Ps 10:7 : 7 His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words; his tongue injures and destroys.
  • Ps 12:2 : 2 People lie to one another; they flatter and deceive.
  • Ps 52:2-4 : 2 Your tongue carries out your destructive plans; it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver. 3 You love evil more than good, lies more than speaking the truth.(Selah) 4 You love to use all the words that destroy, and the tongue that deceives.
  • Ps 58:3-4 : 3 The wicked turn aside from birth; liars go astray as soon as they are born. 4 Their venom is like that of a snake, like a deaf serpent that does not hear,
  • Jas 3:5-8 : 5 So too the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions. Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. 6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence– and is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is subdued and has been subdued by humankind. 8 But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
  • 2 Pet 2:18 : 18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words they are able to entice, with fleshly desires and with debauchery, people who have just escaped from those who reside in error.
  • Acts 11:8-9 : 8 But I said,‘Certainly not, Lord, for nothing defiled or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!’ 9 But the voice replied a second time from heaven,‘What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!’
  • Rom 3:13-14 : 13 “Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
  • Isa 37:23 : 23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at? At whom have you shouted and looked so arrogantly? At the Holy One of Israel!
  • Isa 59:3-5 : 3 For your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with sin; your lips speak lies, your tongue utters malicious words. 4 No one is concerned about justice; no one sets forth his case truthfully. They depend on false words and tell lies; they conceive of oppression and give birth to sin. 5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched.
  • Isa 59:13-15 : 13 We have rebelled and tried to deceive the LORD; we turned back from following our God. We stir up oppression and rebellion; we tell lies we concocted in our minds. 14 Justice is driven back; godliness stands far off. Indeed, honesty stumbles in the city square and morality is not even able to enter. 15 Honesty has disappeared; the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed. The LORD watches and is displeased, for there is no justice.
  • Jer 9:3-6 : 3 The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them The LORD says,“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows. Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. They have become powerful in the land, but they have not done so by honest means. Indeed, they do one evil thing after another and do not pay attention to me. 4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends. He must not even trust any of his relatives. For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. And all of his friends will tell lies about him. 5 One friend deceives another and no one tells the truth. These people have trained themselves to tell lies. They do wrong and are unable to repent. 6 They do one act of violence after another, and one deceitful thing after another. They refuse to pay attention to me,” says the LORD.
  • Rom 14:20 : 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat.
  • 1 Tim 4:4-5 : 4 For every creation of God is good and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 5 For it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.
  • Titus 1:15 : 15 All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
  • Heb 13:9 : 9 Do not be carried away by all sorts of strange teachings. For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not ritual meals, which have never benefited those who participated in them.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Matt 15:16-20
    5 verses
    90%

    16Jesus said,“Even after all this, are you still so foolish?

    17Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer?

    18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person.

    19For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

    20These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.”

  • Mark 7:17-21
    5 verses
    89%

    17Now when Jesus had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable.

    18He said to them,“Are you so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him?

    19For it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes out into the sewer.”(This means all foods are clean.)

    20He said,“What comes out of a person defiles him.

    21For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

  • Mark 7:14-15
    2 verses
    88%

    14Then he called the crowd again and said to them,“Listen to me, everyone, and understand.

    15There is nothing outside of a person that can defile him by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles him.”

  • Mark 7:23
    79%

    23All these evils come from within and defile a person.”

  • Matt 15:8-10
    3 verses
    79%

    8‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me,

    9and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

    10True Defilement Then he called the crowd to him and said,“Listen and understand.

  • Matt 15:12-13
    2 verses
    78%

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

    13And he replied,“Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.

  • Luke 6:45
    74%

    45The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his heart.

  • Luke 11:39
    73%

    39But the Lord said to him,“Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

  • Jas 3:10
    73%

    10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters.

  • Matt 12:33-37
    5 verses
    72%

    33Trees and Their Fruit“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.

    34Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart.

    35The good person brings good things out of his good treasury, and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury.

    36I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak.

    37For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

  • Acts 11:8-9
    2 verses
    72%

    8But I said,‘Certainly not, Lord, for nothing defiled or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!’

    9But the voice replied a second time from heaven,‘What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!’

  • Mark 7:2-5
    4 verses
    72%

    2And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed.

    3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, holding fast to the tradition of the elders.

    4And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. They hold fast to many other traditions: the washing of cups, pots, kettles, and dining couches.)

    5The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked him,“Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with unwashed hands?”

  • Matt 15:1-3
    3 verses
    72%

    1Breaking Human Traditions Then Pharisees and experts in the law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said,

    2“Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”

    3He answered them,“And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?

  • Matt 23:25-26
    2 verses
    72%

    25“Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

    26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean too!

  • Rom 14:20
    72%

    20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat.

  • Luke 16:15
    71%

    15But Jesus said to them,“You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.

  • Luke 11:41
    71%

    41But give from your heart to those in need, and then everything will be clean for you.

  • Titus 1:15
    71%

    15All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted.

  • Matt 7:6
    70%

    6Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet and turn around and tear you to pieces.

  • Prov 13:2
    70%

    2From the fruit of his speech a person eats good things, but the treacherous desire the fruit of violence.

  • Lev 18:28
    70%

    28So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it just as it has vomited out the nations that were before you.

  • Matt 16:11
    69%

    11How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

  • Job 15:16
    69%

    16how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, who drinks in evil like water!

  • Lev 11:36
    68%

    36However, a spring or a cistern which collects water will be clean, but one who touches their carcass will be unclean.

  • Job 14:4
    68%

    4Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean? No one!

  • Job 15:13
    68%

    13when you turn your rage against God and allow such words to escape from your mouth?