Matthew 15:12-28

12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.

14 Leave them; they are blind guides.^[a] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them.

17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body?

18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.

19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 60:21; Isaiah 61:3; John 15:2
• 2. Matthew 23:16,24; Romans 2:19
• 3. Luke 6:39
• 4. Matthew 13:36
• 5. Matthew 16:9
• 6. Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:45; James 3:6
• 7. Galatians 5:19-21
• 8. Romans 14:14
• 9. S Matthew 11:21
• 10. S Matthew 9:27
• 11. S Matthew 4:24
• 12. Matthew 10:6,23; Romans 15:8
• 13. S Matthew 8:2
• 14. S Matthew 9:22

Footnotes

• [a] Some manuscripts "blind guides of the blind"