Matthew 15

Debate Over Tradition

Mark 7:1–23

15Then ^athe scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ^2b“Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

³He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴For God commanded, saying, ^c‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^d‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ ⁵But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, ^e“Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”—⁶then he need not honor his father ¹or mother.’ Thus you have made the ²commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. ^7fHypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

⁸‘These ^gpeople ³draw near to Me with their mouth,

And honor Me with their lips,

But their heart is far from Me.

⁹And in vain they worship Me,

^hTeaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

¹⁰ⁱWhen He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: ^11jNot what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

¹²Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

¹³But He answered and said, ^k“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone. ^lThey are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

^15mThen Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

¹⁶So Jesus said, ⁿ“Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not yet understand that ^owhatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? ¹⁸But ^pthose things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ^19qFor out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. ²⁰These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

Jesus Heals the Gentile Woman’s Daughter

Mark 7:24–30

^21rThen Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²²And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, ^sSon of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

²³But He answered her not a word.

And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

²⁴But He answered and said, ^t“I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little ^udogs.”

²⁷And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, ^vgreat is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Jesus Heals Many

Mark 7:31–37

^29wJesus departed from there, ^xskirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. ^30yThen great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, ⁴maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ ^zfeet, and He healed them. ³¹So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the ⁵maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they ^aglorified the God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds 4,000

Mark 8:1–10

^32bNow Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

^33cThen His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”

³⁴Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”

And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”

³⁵So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. ³⁶And ^dHe took the seven loaves and the fish and ^egave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. ³⁷So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. ³⁸Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. ^39fAnd He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of ⁶Magdala.