Common - Matthew - 15

15:1  Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said,

15:2  "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat."

15:3  He answered them, "And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

15:4  For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’

15:5  But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might have received from me is a gift to God’

15:6  he is not to honor his father with it. Thus you have made the word of God of no effect for the sake of your tradition.

15:7  You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, when he said:

15:8  ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

15:9  In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’"

15:10  And he called the people to him and said to them, "Hear and understand:

15:11  not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."

15:12  Then the disciples came and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"

15:13  He answered, "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

15:14  Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

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

15:16  So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding?

15:17  Do you not yet see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?

15:18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

15:19  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornications, theft, false witness, slander.

15:20  These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

15:21  And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

15:22  And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried to him, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed."

15:23  But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us."

15:24  He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

15:25  But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me!"

15:26  And he answered, "It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs."

15:27  "Yes, Lord," she said, "yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table."

15:28  Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

15:29  And Jesus went on from there and passed along the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain, and sat down there.

15:30  Then great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others; and they laid them down at his feet, and he healed them.

15:31  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

15:32  Now Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have been with me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."

15:33  Then his disciples said to him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to feed such a great crowd?"

15:34  And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish."

15:35  He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.

15:36  Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

15:37  And they all ate and were satisfied; and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.

15:38  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

15:39  And he sent away the crowds, got into the boat, and went to the region of Magadan.