The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Then there came to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying,
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Then some Pharisees and teachers of the Law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked him,
2 Why do your disciples go against the teaching of the fathers? for they take food with unwashed hands.
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"Why is it that your disciples disobey the teaching handed down by our ancestors? They don't wash their hands in the proper way before they eat!"
3 And in answer he said to them, Why do you, yourselves, go against the word of God on account of the teaching which has been handed down to you?
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Jesus answered, "And why do you disobey God's command and follow your own teaching?
4 For God said, Give honour to your father and mother: and, He who says evil of father or mother will be put to death.
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For God said, "Respect your father and your mother,' and "If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death.'
5 But you say, If a man says to his father or his mother, That by which you might have had profit from me is given to God;
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But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father or mother, but say, "This belongs to God,'
6 There is no need for him to give honour to his father. And you have made the word of God without effect because of your teaching.
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they do not need to honor their father. In this way you disregard God's command, in order to follow your own teaching.
7 You false ones, well did Isaiah say of you,
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You hypocrites! How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you!
8 These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
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"These people, says God, honor me with their words, but their heart is really far away from me.
9 But their worship is to no purpose, while they give as their teaching the rules of men.
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It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!' "
10 And he got the people together and said to them, Give ear, and let my words be clear to you:
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Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and understand!
11 Not that which goes into the mouth makes a man unclean, but that which comes out of the mouth.
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It is not what goes into your mouth that makes you ritually unclean; rather, what comes out of it makes you unclean."
12 Then the disciples came and said to him, Did you see that the Pharisees were troubled when these words came to their ears?
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Then the disciples came to him and said, "Do you know that the Pharisees had their feelings hurt by what you said?"
13 But he said in answer, Every plant which my Father in heaven has not put in the earth, will be taken up by the roots.
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"Every plant which my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up," answered Jesus.
14 Let them be: they are blind guides. And if a blind man is guiding a blind man, the two will go falling into a hole together.
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"Don't worry about them! They are blind leaders of the blind; and when one blind man leads another, both fall into a ditch."
15 Then Peter said to him, Make the story clear to us.
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Peter spoke up, "Explain this saying to us."
16 And he said, Are you, like them, still without wisdom?
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Jesus said to them, "You are still no more intelligent than the others.
17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth goes on into the stomach, and is sent out as waste?
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Don't you understand? Anything that goes into your mouth goes into your stomach and then on out of your body.
18 But the things which come out of the mouth come from the heart; and they make a man unclean.
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But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are the things that make you ritually unclean.
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, the taking of life, broken faith between the married, unclean desires of the flesh, taking of property, false witness, bitter words:
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For from your heart come the evil ideas which lead you to kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander others.
20 These are the things which make a man unclean; but to take food with unwashed hands does not make a man unclean.
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These are the things that make you unclean. But to eat without washing your hands as they say you should - this doesn't make you unclean."
21 And Jesus went away from there into the country of Tyre and Sidon.
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Jesus left that place and went off to the territory near the cities of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And a woman of Canaan came out from those parts, crying and saying, Have pity on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is greatly troubled with an unclean spirit.
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A Canaanite woman who lived in that region came to him. "Son of David!" she cried out. "Have mercy on me, sir! My daughter has a demon and is in a terrible condition."
23 But he gave her no answer. And his disciples came and said to him, Send her away, for she is crying after us.
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But Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples came to him and begged him, "Send her away! She is following us and making all this noise!"
24 But he made answer and said, I was sent only to the wandering sheep of the house of Israel.
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Then Jesus replied, "I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the people of Israel."
25 But she came and gave him worship, saying, Help, Lord.
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At this the woman came and fell at his feet. "Help me, sir!" she said.
26 And he made answer and said, It is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs.
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Jesus answered, "It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."
27 But she said, Yes, Lord: but even the dogs take the bits from under their masters' table.
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"That's true, sir," she answered, "but even the dogs eat the leftovers that fall from their masters' table."
28 Then Jesus, answering, said to her, O woman, great is your faith: let your desire be done. And her daughter was made well from that hour.
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So Jesus answered her, "You are a woman of great faith! What you want will be done for you." And at that very moment her daughter was healed.
29 And Jesus went from there and came to the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and took his seat there.
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Jesus left there and went along by Lake Galilee. He climbed a hill and sat down.
30 And there came to him great numbers of people having with them those who were broken in body, or blind, or without voice, or wounded, or ill in any way, and a number of others; they put them down at his feet and he made them well:
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Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb, and many other sick people, whom they placed at Jesus' feet; and he healed them.
31 So that the people were full of wonder when they saw that those who had no voice were talking, the feeble were made strong, those whose bodies were broken had the power of walking, and the blind were able to see: and they gave glory to the God of Israel.
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The people were amazed as they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised the God of Israel.
32 And Jesus got his disciples together and said, I have pity for the people, because they have now been with me three days and have no food: and I will not send them away without food, or they will have no strength for the journey.
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Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away without feeding them, for they might faint on their way home."
33 And the disciples say to him, How may we get enough bread in a waste place, to give food to such a number of people?
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The disciples asked him, "Where will we find enough food in this desert to feed this crowd?"
34 And Jesus says to them, How much bread have you? And they said, Seven cakes, and some small fishes.
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"How much bread do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven loaves," they answered, "and a few small fish."
35 Then he gave an order to the people to be seated on the earth,
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So Jesus ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
36 And he took the seven cakes of bread and the fishes; and having given praise, he gave the broken bread to the disciples, and the disciples gave it to the people.
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Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks to God, broke them, and gave them to the disciples; and the disciples gave them to the people.
37 And they all took food, and had enough; and they took up of the broken bits, seven baskets full.
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They all ate and had enough. Then the disciples took up seven baskets full of pieces left over.
38 And there were four thousand men who took food, together with women and children.
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The number of men who ate was four thousand, not counting the women and children.
39 And when he had sent the people away, he got into the boat, and came into the country of Magadan.
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Then Jesus sent the people away, got into a boat, and went to the territory of Magadan.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.