Matthew 15

Tradition and Commandment

1Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,

2“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

3And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

4“For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,' and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.'

5“But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,”

6he is not to honor his father or his mother.' And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

7“You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

8‘This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

9‘But in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.' ”

10After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand.

11“It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

12Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”

13But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.

14“Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

15Peter said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.”

16Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also?

17“Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?

18“But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.

19“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.

20“These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

21Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon.

22And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.”

23But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.”

24But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

26And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”

27But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.”

28Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

Healing Crowds

29Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there.

30And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them.

31So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Fed

32And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

33The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

34And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

35And He directed the people to sit down on the ground;

36and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

37And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.

38And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.