Matthew 14:13-36; Matthew 15:1-20

Matthew 14:13-36

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.

14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.

15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

16 Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."

17 They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."

18 And he said, "Bring them here to me."

19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.

21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.

25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.

26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."

28 Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."

29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.

30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"

31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

34 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

35 After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him,

36 and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

Matthew 15:1-20

1 Then 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 before they eat."

3 He answered them, "And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

4 For God said, "Honor your father and your mother,' and, "Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.'

5 But you say that whoever tells father or mother, "Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,' then that person need not honor the father.

6 So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God.

7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:

8 "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;

9 in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.' "

10 Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and understand:

11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles."

12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?"

13 He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.

14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit."

15 But Peter said to him, "Explain this parable to us."

16 Then he said, "Are you also still without understanding?

17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?

18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.

19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.

20 These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile."