Tradition and Commandment
1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 And He answered and said to them,”Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
4 For God said, ‘Honoryour father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is tobe put to death.’
5 But you say, ‘Whoever says tohisfather or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been givento God,”
6 he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ Andby thisyou invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
7 You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
8 ‘This people honorsMe with their lips,
But their heart is far away fromMe.
9 ‘But in vain do they worshipMe,
Teaching asdoctrines the precepts of men.'”
10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them,”Hear and understand.
11 It isnot what enters into the mouththatdefiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”
13 But He answered and said,”Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.
14 Let them alone; they are blind guidesof the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
The Heart of Man
15 Peter said to Him, “Explain 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 the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.
19 For 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 Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out andbeganto cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-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 the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 But she came andbeganto bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
26 And He answered and said,”It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her,”O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.”And her daughter was healed at once.
Healing Crowds
29 Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there.
30 And large crowds came to Him, bringing with themthose who werelame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them.
31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.
Four Thousand Fed
32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said,”I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”
33 The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves inthisdesolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”
34 And Jesus said to them,”How many loaves do you have?”And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground;
36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciplesgave themto the people.
37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.
38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.
—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MAT/15-a8baf5818f6584750d7dff6be10bbe50.mp3?version_id=100—