1Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked,2‘Why don’t your disciples obey what the elders teach? Your disciples don’t wash their hands before they eat!’3Jesus replied, ‘And why don’t you obey God’s command? You would rather follow your own teachings!4God said, “Honour your father and mother.” He also said, “Anyone who asks for bad things to happen to their father or mother must be put to death.” (Ex 20:12; Ex 21:17; Le 20:9; De 5:16)5But suppose people have something that might be used to help their parents. You allow them to say it is instead “a gift set apart for God.”6So they do not need to honour their father or mother with their gift. You make the word of God useless in order to follow your own teachings.7You pretenders! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. He said,8‘ “These people honour me by what they say. But their hearts are far away from me.9Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me. They teach nothing but human rules.” ’ (Isa 29:13)10Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, ‘Listen and understand.11What goes into someone’s mouth does not make them “unclean”. It’s what comes out of their mouth that makes them “unclean”. ’12Then the disciples came to him. They asked, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees were angry when they heard this?’13Jesus replied, ‘They are plants that my Father in heaven has not planted. They will be pulled up by the roots.14Leave the Pharisees. They are blind guides. If one blind person leads another blind person, both of them will fall into a pit.’15Peter said, ‘Explain this to us.’16‘Don’t you understand yet?’ Jesus asked them.17‘Don’t you see? Everything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body.18But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart. Those are the things that make someone “unclean”.19Evil thoughts come out of a person’s heart. So do murder, adultery, and other sexual sins. And so do stealing, false witness, and telling lies about others.20Those are the things that make you “unclean”. But eating without washing your hands does not make you “unclean”. ’
The faith of a woman from Canaan
21Jesus left Galilee and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon.22A woman from Canaan lived near Tyre and Sidon. She came to him and cried out, ‘Lord! Son of David! Have mercy on me! A demon controls my daughter. She is suffering terribly.’23Jesus did not say a word. So his disciples came to him. They begged him, ‘Send her away. She keeps crying out after us.’24Jesus answered, ‘I was sent only to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep.’25Then the woman fell to her knees in front of him. ‘Lord! Help me!’ she said.26He replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’27‘Yes it is, Lord,’ she said. ‘Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.’28Then Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, you have great faith! You will be given what you are asking for.’ And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Jesus feeds four thousand
29Jesus left there. He walked along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down.30Large crowds came to him. They brought blind people and those who could not walk. They also brought disabled people, those who could not speak, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them.31The people were amazed. Those who could not speak were speaking. The disabled were made well. Those not able to walk were walking. Those who were blind could see. So the people praised the God of Israel.32Then Jesus called for his disciples to come to him. He said, ‘I feel deep concern for these people. They have already been with me three days. They don’t have anything to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. If I do, they will become too weak on their way home.’33His disciples answered him. ‘There is nothing here,’ they said. ‘Where could we get enough bread to feed this large crowd?’34‘How many loaves do you have?’ Jesus asked. ‘Seven’, they replied, ‘and a few small fish.’35Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground.36He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks. Then he broke them and gave them to the disciples. And the disciples passed them out to the people.37All of them ate and were satisfied. After that, the disciples picked up seven baskets of leftover pieces.38The number of men who ate was 4,000. Women and children also ate.39After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat. He went to the area near Magadan.
Matthew 15
English Standard Version
Traditions and Commandments
1Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, (Mr 3:22; Mr 7:1)2“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” (Mt 9:11; Lu 11:38; Ga 1:14; Col 2:8)3He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?4For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ (Ex 20:12; Ex 21:17)5But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”[1]6he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word[2] of God. (Ro 2:23; Ga 3:17)7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: (Mt 23:13)8“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; (Isa 29:13; Eze 33:31)9in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Col 2:22; Tit 1:14)
What Defiles a Person
10And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: (Mt 13:51)11it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” (Ac 10:14)12Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” (Mt 13:57; Lu 7:23)13He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. (Isa 60:21; Isa 61:3; Joh 15:1; 1Co 3:9; Jud 1:12)14Let them alone; they are blind guides.[3] And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” (Isa 56:10; Mal 2:8; Mt 23:16; Mt 23:24; Lu 6:39)15But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” (Mt 13:36)16And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? (Mt 16:9)17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?[4] (1Co 6:13)18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. (Mt 12:34; Jas 3:6)19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (Ex 20:13; Mt 5:22; Mt 5:28; Eph 4:31; Col 3:8; 1Ti 6:4; Jas 2:4)20These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Mr 7:2; Mr 7:5; 1Co 6:9)
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. (Mr 7:24)22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” (Ge 10:15; Ge 10:19; Jud 1:30; Mt 9:27)23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” (Mt 14:15)24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Mt 10:5; Ro 15:8)25But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” (Mt 8:2)26And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” (Mt 7:6)27She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (Lu 16:21)28Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.[5] (Mt 8:13; Mt 9:2; Mt 9:22; Mt 17:18; Joh 4:52)
Jesus Heals Many
29Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. (Mt 4:18; Mt 5:1; Mr 7:31; Joh 6:1)30And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, (Mt 11:5)31so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. (Isa 29:23; Mt 9:8; Mt 9:33; Mt 18:8; Mr 9:43; Lu 1:68; Ac 13:17)
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
32Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” (Mt 9:36; Mt 14:14; Mr 8:1)33And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”34And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” (Mt 16:10)35And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground,36he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. (Mt 26:27; Mr 14:23; Lu 22:17; Lu 22:19; Joh 6:11; Joh 6:23; Ac 27:35; Ro 14:6; 1Co 10:30; 1Co 11:24; 1Co 14:16; 1Ti 4:3)37And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. (2Ki 4:42)38Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.39And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan. (Mr 8:10)