1. Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,
2. they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
3. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders.
4. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles [and beds].)
5. So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”
6. He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:‘This people honors me with their lips,but their hearts are far from me;
7. In vain do they worship me,teaching as doctrines human precepts.’
8. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”