15
Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.”
16
“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked.
17
“Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.
18
But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.
19
For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.
20
These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”
21
Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22
A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”
23
But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”
24
Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”
25
But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”