Matthew 15

Then Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that whoever tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might have received from me is an offering,’ need not honor his father. So you have nullified the word of God because of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah rightly prophesied about you when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching human commandments as doctrines.’” He called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—that is what defiles a person.” Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this saying?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Leave them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. If a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” He said, “Are you too still without understanding? Do you not realize that everything entering the mouth goes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and that defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, false testimonies, and blasphemies. These are what defile a person, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.” Jesus left that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is terribly tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. His disciples came and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me!” He answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. Jesus left there and came beside the Sea of Galilee. He went up the mountain and sat down there. Large crowds came to him, bringing the mute, the blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. The crowd marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this wilderness to feed so large a crowd?” Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” He ordered the crowd to recline on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. They all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of leftover pieces. Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. After dismissing the crowds, he got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

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