Tradition and Commandment

15 ^(A)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus ^(B)from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ^(C)do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” ³ And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves also break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘^(D)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘^(E)The one who speaks evil of father or mother is to ^[a]be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been ^[b]given to God,” ⁶ he is not to ^[c]honor his father or mother.’ And by this you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying:

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand! ^11 (H)It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the person.”

¹² Then the disciples came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were ^[d]offended when they heard this statement?” ¹³ But He answered and said, “^(I)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone; ^(J)they are blind guides ^[e]of blind people. And ^(K)if a person who is blind guides another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁵ Peter ^[f]said to Him, “^(L)Explain the parable to us.” ^16 [g]Jesus said, “Are you also still lacking in understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is ^[h]eliminated? ¹⁸ But ^(M)the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things defile the person. ^19 (N)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and ^[i]slanderous statements. ²⁰ These are the things that defile the person; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the person.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

^21 (O)Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the region of ^(P)Tyre and ^(Q)Sidon. ²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, ^(R)Son of David; my daughter is severely ^(S)demon-possessed.” ²³ But He did not answer her with even a word. And His disciples came up and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting ^[j]at us!” ²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was sent only to ^(T)the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and ^(U)began ^[k]to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ Yet He answered and said, “It is not ^[l]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ And she said, “Yes, Lord; but please help, for even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, ^(V)your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed ^[m]at once.

Healing Crowds

^29 (W)Departing from there, Jesus went along ^(X)the Sea of Galilee, and after going up on the mountain, He was sitting there. ³⁰ And ^[n]large crowds came to Him bringing with them those who were limping, had impaired limbs, were blind, or were unable to speak, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and ^(Y)He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd was astonished as they saw those who were unable to speak talking, those with impaired limbs ^[o]restored, those who were limping walking around, and those who were blind seeing; and they ^(Z)glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Men Fed

^32 (AA)Now Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “^(AB)I feel compassion for the ^[p]people, because they ^[q]have remained with Me now for 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 in this desolate 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 ^[r]people to ^[s]sit down on the ground; ³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after ^(AC)giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large ^(AD)baskets full. ³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹ And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into ^(AE)the boat and came to the region of ^(AF)Magadan.

Followers of Tradition

7 ^(A)The Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered to Him after they came ^(B)from Jerusalem, ² and saw that some of His disciples were eating their bread with ^[a](C)unholy hands, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they ^[b]carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the ^(D)tradition of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they ^[c]completely cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received as traditions to firmly hold, such as the ^[d]washing of ^(E)cups, pitchers, and copper pots.) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk in accordance with the ^(F)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with ^(G)[e]unholy hands?” ⁶ But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the ^(J)tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your ^(K)tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘^(L)Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘^(M)The one who speaks evil of father or mother, is ^[f]certainly to be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a person says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is ^(N)Corban (that is, ^[g]given to God),’ ¹² you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thereby invalidating the word of God by your ^(O)tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁴ After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside the person which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which come out of the person are what defile the person^[h].”

¹⁷ And when He later entered a house, away from the crowd, ^(P)His disciples asked Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and ^[i]is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared ^(Q)all foods ^(R)clean.) ²⁰ And He was saying, “^(S)That which comes out of the person, that is what defiles the person. ²¹ For from within, out of the ^[j]hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery, ²² deeds of greed, wickedness, deceit, indecent behavior, ^[k](T)envy, slander, ^[l]pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile the person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

^24 (U)Now Jesus got up and went from there to the region of ^(V)Tyre^[m]. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know about it; and yet He could not escape notice. ²⁵ But after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a ^[n]Gentile, of Syrophoenician descent. And she repeatedly asked Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not ^[o]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the ^[p]dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ And He said to her, “Because of this ^[q]answer, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰ And after going back to her home, she found the child ^[r]lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

^31 (W)Again He left the region of ^(X)Tyre and came through Sidon to ^(Y)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of ^(Z)Decapolis. ³² And they *brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they *begged Him to ^(AA)lay His hand on him. ³³ And Jesus ^(AB)took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers in his ears, and after ^(AC)spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; ³⁴ and looking up to heaven with a deep ^(AD)sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” ³⁵ And his ears were opened, and the ^[s]impediment of his tongue was ^[t]removed, and he began speaking plainly. ³⁶ And ^(AE)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they ^(AF)continued to proclaim it. ³⁷ And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”