1. Some Pharisees and several teachers of the Law of Moses from Jerusalem came and gathered around Jesus.
2. They noticed that some of his disciples ate without first washing their hands.
3. The Pharisees and many other Jewish people obey the teachings of their ancestors. They always wash their hands in the proper way before eating.
4. None of them will eat anything they buy in the market until it is washed. They also follow a lot of other teachings, such as washing cups, jugs, and bowls.
5. The Pharisees and teachers asked Jesus, “Why don't your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? Why do they eat without washing their hands?”
6. Jesus replied:You are nothing but show-offs! The prophet Isaiah was right when he wrote that God had said,“All of you praise mewith your words,but you never reallythink about me.
7. It is useless for youto worship me,when you teach rulesmade up by humans.”
8. You disobey God's commands in order to obey what humans have taught.
9. You are good at rejecting God's commands so that you can follow your own teachings!
10. Didn't Moses command you to respect your father and mother? Didn't he tell you to put to death all who curse their parents?
11. But you let people get by without helping their parents when they should. You let them say that what they own has been offered to God.
12. You won't let those people help their parents.
13. And you ignore God's commands in order to follow your own teaching. You do a lot of other things that are just as bad.