• God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions

  • 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, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’
  • 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me is given to God,”
  • 6 he need not honor his father.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
  • 7 You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
  • 8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.
  • 9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commands of men.’”
  • 10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand.
  • 11 It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles 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 guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

  • The Heart of Man

  • 15 Now Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.”
  • 16 And 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 goes into the sewer?
  • 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, sexual immoralities, 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 Canaanite Woman

  • 21 And going away from there, Jesus withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon.
  • 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to 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 were pleading with Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.”
  • 24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
  • 25 But she came and was bowing 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 answered and 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.

  • Jesus Heals the Crowds

  • 29 And 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 them those who were lame, 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.

  • Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

  • 32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
  • 33 And 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 crowd to sit down on the ground;
  • 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and kept 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 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.