Matthew 15:21–39

The Syrophoenician Woman

^21aJesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of ^bTyre and Sidon.

²²And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, ^aSon of David; my daughter is cruelly ^bdemon-possessed.”

²³But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting ¹at us.”

²⁴But He answered and said, “I was sent only to ^athe lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵But she came and ^abegan ¹to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶And He answered and said, “It is not ¹good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁷But she said, “Yes, Lord; ¹but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, ^ayour faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed ¹at once.

Healing Crowds

^29aDeparting from there, Jesus went along by ^bthe Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there.

³⁰And ¹large 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 ^aHe healed them.

³¹So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled ¹restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they ^aglorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Fed

^32aAnd Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “^bI feel compassion for the ¹people, because they ²have 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.”

³³The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

³⁵And He directed the ¹people to ²sit down on the ground;

³⁶and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and ^agiving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

³⁷And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large ^abaskets full.

³⁸And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into ^athe boat and came to the region of ^bMagadan.