Hearers and Doers
Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 6-9
“Now, Israel, listen to the rules and to the regulations that I am teaching you to do, in order that you may live and you may go in and you may take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, is giving to you. 2 You must not add to the word that I am commanding you, and you shall not take away from it in order to keep the commands of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you to observe.
6 And ⌊you must observe them diligently⌋, for that is your wisdom and your insight before the eyes of the people, who will hear all of these rules, and they will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people.’ 7 For what great nation has for it a god near to it as Yahweh our God, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what other great nation has for it just rules and regulations just like ⌊this whole⌋ law that I am setting ⌊before⌋ you ⌊today⌋?
9 “However, ⌊take care⌋ for yourself and watch your inner self closely, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen, so that they do not slip from your mind all the days of your life; and you shall make them known to your children and to ⌊your grandchildren⌋.
James 1:17-27
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of change. 18 By his* will he gave birth to us through the message of truth, so that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Doers of the Message, Not Just Hearers
19 Understand this, my dear brothers: every person must be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, putting aside all moral uncleanness and wicked excess, welcome with humility the implanted message which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the message and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves, 23 because if anyone is a hearer of the message and not a doer, this one is like someone staring at ⌊his own face⌋ in a mirror, 24 for he looks at himself and goes away and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues to do it, not being a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts, this one will be blessed ⌊in what he does⌋.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious, although he* does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our* God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Mark 7:1-8; 14-15; 21-23
And the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered to him. 2 And they saw that some of his disciples were eating their bread with unclean—that is, unwashed—hands. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands ⌊ritually⌋, thus* holding fast to the traditions of the elders. 4 And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions* which they have received and* hold fast to—for example, the washing of cups and pitchers and bronze kettles and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unclean hands?” 6 So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far, far away from me.
7 And they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men.”
14 And summoning the crowd again, he said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside of a person that is able to defile him by* going into him. But the things that go out of a person are the things that defile a person.”
21 For from within, from the heart of people, come evil plans, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, acts of greed, malicious deeds, deceit, licentiousness, ⌊envy⌋, abusive speech, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”