The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 After that, Pharisees and religion scholars came to Jesus all the way from Jerusalem, criticizing,
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Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him,
2 "Why do your disciples play fast and loose with the rules?"
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“Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”
3 But Jesus put it right back on them. "Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God's commands?
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Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?
4 God clearly says, 'Respect your father and mother,' and, 'Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.'
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For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’
5 But you weasel around that by saying, 'Whoever wants to, can say to father and mother, What I owed to you I've given to God.'
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But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’
6 That can hardly be called respecting a parent. You cancel God's command by your rules.
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In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.
7 Frauds! Isaiah's prophecy of you hit the bull's-eye:
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You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
8 These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn't in it.
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‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
9 They act like they're worshiping me, but they don't mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy."
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Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ ”
10 He then called the crowd together and said, "Listen, and take this to heart.
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Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand.
11 It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up."
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It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”
12 Later his disciples came and told him, "Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?"
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Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”
13 Jesus shrugged it off. "Every tree that wasn't planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots.
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Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted,
14 Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch."
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so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”
15 Peter said, "I don't get it. Put it in plain language."
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Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.”
16 Jesus replied, "You too? Are you being willfully stupid?
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“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked.
17 Don't you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated?
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“Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.
18 But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart.
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But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.
19 It's from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing.
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For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.
20 That's what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands - that's neither here nor there." Healing the People
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These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”
21 From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon.
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Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, "Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit."
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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 Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy."
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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 Jesus refused, telling them, "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel."
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Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”
25 Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. "Master, help me."
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But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”
26 He said, "It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs."
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Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
27 She was quick: "You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table."
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She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”
28 Jesus gave in. "Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!" Right then her daughter became well.
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“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.
29 After Jesus returned, he walked along Lake Galilee and then climbed a mountain and took his place, ready to receive visitors.
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Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down.
30 They came, tons of them, bringing along the paraplegic, the blind, the maimed, the mute - all sorts of people in need - and more or less threw them down at Jesus' feet to see what he would do with them. He healed them.
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A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.
31 When the people saw the mutes speaking, the maimed healthy, the paraplegics walking around, the blind looking around, they were astonished and let everyone know that God was blazingly alive among them.
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The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.
32 But Jesus wasn't finished with them. He called his disciples and said, "I hurt for these people. For three days now they've been with me, and now they have nothing to eat. I can't send them away without a meal - they'd probably collapse on the road."
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Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.”
33 His disciples said, "But where in this deserted place are you going to dig up enough food for a meal?"
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The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”
34 Jesus asked, "How much bread do you have?"
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Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?” They replied, “Seven loaves, and a few small fish.”
35 At that, Jesus directed the people to sit down.
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So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground.
36 He took the seven loaves and the fish. After giving thanks, he divided it up and gave it to the people.
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Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.
37 Everyone ate. They had all they wanted. It took seven large baskets to collect the leftovers.
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They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food.
38 Over four thousand people ate their fill at that meal.
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There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children.
39 After Jesus sent them away, he climbed in the boat and crossed over to the Magadan hills.
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Then Jesus sent the people home, and he got into a boat and crossed over to the region of Magadan.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.