Matthew 15:1-39 (New American Standard)

Tradition and Commandment

1 ¹Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus ²from Jerusalem and said, 2 "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders ? For they ³do not wash their hands when they eat bread." 3 And 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, '⁴HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,' and, '⁵HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO ^aBE PUT TO DEATH.' 5 "But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been ^bgiven to God," 6 he is not to honor his father or his mother ^c.' 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 '⁶THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 9 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS ⁷DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.' " 10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand. 11 "⁸It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." 12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were ^doffended when they heard this statement ?" 13 But He answered and said, "⁹Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 "Let them alone ; ¹⁰they are blind guides ^eof the blind. And ¹¹if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

The Heart of Man

15 Peter ^fsaid to Him, "¹²Explain the parable to us." 16 ^gJesus 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 ^heliminated ? 18 "But ¹³the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 "¹⁴For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, ⁱfornications, 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

21 ¹⁵Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of ¹⁶Tyre and ¹⁷Sidon. 22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, ¹⁸Son of David ; my daughter is cruelly ¹⁹demon-possessed." 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting ^jat us." 24 But He answered and said, "I was sent only to ²⁰the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 But she came and ²¹began ^kto bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 And He answered and said, "It is not ^lgood to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 27 But she said, "Yes, Lord ; ^mbut even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, ²²your faith is great ; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed ⁿat once .

Healing Crowds

29 ²³Departing from there, Jesus went along by ²⁴the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30 And ^olarge 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 ²⁵He healed them. 31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled ^prestored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing ; and they ²⁶glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Fed

32 ²⁷And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "²⁸I feel compassion for the ^qpeople, because they ^rhave 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." 33 The disciples said to Him, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd ?" 34 And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have ?" And they said, "Seven, and a few small fish." 35 And He directed the ^speople to ^tsit down on the ground ; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish ; and ²⁹giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large ³⁰baskets full. 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into ³¹the boat and came to the region of ³²Magadan.