²¹ The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of human beings, even though ^[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

¹⁷ After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. ¹⁸ "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters you from the outside can defile you? ¹⁹ For it doesn't go into your heart but into your stomach, and then out of your body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

    ²⁰ He went on: "What comes out of you is what defiles you. ²¹ For from within, out of your hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile you."