Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
- KJV He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
- NKJV He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
- NASB But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.
- NLT Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus called them hypocrites and applied Isaiah's words: they honor God with their lips while their hearts are far from Him. It exposes empty, external religion.
Overview
Quoting Isaiah 29:13, Jesus diagnosed the leaders' core problem as hearts distant from God despite outward devotion. Hypocrisy is religion of the lips without the heart. This indictment cuts to the essence of true worship, which God seeks in spirit and truth (John 4:24), and exposes the danger of mere formalism.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 29:13Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.
- Titus 1:16They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Matt 15:7–9You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:
- Ezek 33:31So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.
- 2 Tim 3:5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!
- Matt 23:13–15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
- Jas 2:14–17What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
- John 5:42but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.
- Luke 11:39–44“Now then,” said the Lord, “you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
- John 15:24If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.
- John 8:54–55Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. The One who glorifies Me is My Father, of whom you say ‘He is our God.’
- Acts 28:25They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
- Hos 8:2–3Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!”
- John 8:41–42You are doing the works of your father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father is God Himself.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 7:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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