Matthew 15:14-24

14 "Let them alone; ¹they are blind guides of the blind. And ²if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

The Heart of Man

15 Peter said to Him, "³Explain the parable to us."

16 Jesus 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 ⁴the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.

19 "⁵For 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

21 ⁶Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of ⁷Tyre and ⁸Sidon.

22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, ⁹Son of David; my daughter is cruelly ¹⁰demon-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 at us."

24 But He answered and said, "I was sent only * * to ¹¹the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Cross References

• 1. Matthew 23:16, 24
• 2. Luke 6:39
• 3. Matthew 13:36
• 4. Matthew 12:34; Mark 7:20
• 5. Galatians 5:19f
• 6. Matthew 15:21-28: {Mark 7:24-30}
• 7. Matthew 11:21
• 8. Matthew 11:21
• 9. Matthew 9:27
• 10. Matthew 4:24
• 11. Matthew 10:6

Footnotes

• [a] Later mss add "of the blind"
• [b] Lit "answered and said"
• [c] Lit "and He"
• [d] Lit "thrown out into the latrine"
• [e] I.e. sexual immorality
• [f] Lit "behind us"