There is nothing that goes into you from the outside which can make you ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean."

The Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus had not washed before eating.

Fools! Did not God, who made the outside, also make the inside?

But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled."

The voice spoke to him again, "Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean."

But I said, 'Certainly not, Lord! No ritually unclean or defiled food has ever entered my mouth.'

The voice spoke again from heaven, 'Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean.'

My union with the Lord Jesus makes me certain that no food is of itself ritually unclean; but if you believe that some food is unclean, then it becomes unclean for you.

For God's Kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives.

Do not, because of food, destroy what God has done. All foods may be eaten, but it is wrong to eat anything that will cause someone else to fall into sin.

Everything that God has created is good; nothing is to be rejected, but everything is to be received with a prayer of thanks,

because the word of God and the prayer make it acceptable to God.

Everything is pure to those who are themselves pure; but nothing is pure to those who are defiled and unbelieving, for their minds and consciences have been defiled.

Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you from the right way. It is good to receive inner strength from God's grace, and not by obeying rules about foods; those who obey these rules have not been helped by them.

But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are the things that make you ritually unclean.

These are the things that make you unclean. But to eat without washing your hands as they say you should---this doesn't make you unclean."

You snakes---how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

"You can be sure that on the Judgment Day you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken.

Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats; they are quick to speak hateful, evil words.

All of them lie to one another; they deceive each other with flattery.

You make plans to ruin others; your tongue is like a sharp razor. You are always inventing lies.

You love to hurt people with your words, you liar!

Evildoers go wrong all their lives; they tell lies from the day they are born.

They are full of poison like snakes; they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra,

Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel.

You are guilty of lying, violence, and murder.

The evil plots you make are as deadly as the eggs of a poisonous snake. Crush an egg, out comes a snake! But your plots will do you no good---they are as useless as clothing made of cobwebs!

We have rebelled against you, rejected you, and refused to follow you. We have oppressed others and turned away from you. Our thoughts are false; our words are lies.

There is so little honesty that those who stop doing evil find themselves the victims of crime." The LORD has seen this, and he is displeased that there is no justice.

They are always ready to tell lies; dishonesty instead of truth rules the land. The LORD says, "My people do one evil thing after another and do not acknowledge me as their God."

They all mislead their friends, and no one tells the truth; they have taught their tongues to lie and will not give up their sinning. They do one violent thing after another, and one deceitful act follows another. The LORD says that his people reject him.

Their words are full of deadly deceit; wicked lies roll off their tongues, and dangerous threats, like snake's poison, from their lips;

their speech is filled with bitter curses.

So it is with the tongue: small as it is, it can boast about great things. Just think how large a forest can be set on fire by a tiny flame!

We humans are able to tame and have tamed all other creatures---wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish.

They make proud and stupid statements, and use immoral bodily lusts to trap those who are just beginning to escape from among people who live in error.