A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit.[e] 44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren’t gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
Luke 6:43-45 CSB
Tradition
7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
8 This people[Other mss add draw near to me with their mouths, and] honors me with their lips,
Matthew 15:7-9 CSB
but their heart is far from me.
9 They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines human commands.”[Is 29:13 LXX]
Defilement Is from Within
10 Summoning the crowd, he told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.”
12 Then the disciples came up and told him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides.[Other mss add for the blind] And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Then Peter said, “Explain this parable to us.”
16 “Do you still lack understanding?” he[Other mss read Jesus] asked. 17 “Don’t you realize[Other mss add yet] that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated?[l] 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. 20 These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
Matthew 15:10-20 CSB
9 With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. 10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. 11 Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water.
James 3:9-12