Matthew 15

1Then Pharisees and scribes arrived from Jerusalem and put a question to Jesus: 2“Why do your disciples go against the tradition handed down by the elders? They eat their meals without first washing their hands.” 3He answered them, “And why do you go against God’s commandment for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and also, ‘Anyone who reviles father or mother must be put to death.’ 5But you teach that if someone says to father or mother, ‘Any support you could have received from me is set apart as a gift to God,’ 6then that person is excused from honoring their father. So for the sake of your tradition you have cancelled God’s word. 7You are hypocrites, and Isaiah’s prophecy about you was exactly right. He said: 8‘With their lips this people honors me, but their heart keeps far away from me. 9Their worship of me is empty, for the doctrines they teach are commands made by human beings.’”

10Then Jesus called the crowd over to him and said, “Hear this, and understand it. 11A person is not made unclean by what goes into the mouth. What makes a person unclean is what comes out of it.”

12Then the disciples came to him and said, “Are you aware that the Pharisees took offense at what you said?” 13He answered, “Any plant that my Father in heaven did not plant will be torn out, roots and all. 14Pay no attention to them. They are blind, yet they guide others who are blind. When one blind person guides another, the two of them end up in a ditch.”

15Peter spoke up: “Tell us what this parable means.” 16He said, “Are even you still so slow to understand? 17Can you not see that everything taken in by the mouth goes down into the stomach and is then passed out into the latrine? 18But what comes out of the mouth has its source in the heart, and that is what makes a person unclean. 19It is from the heart that evil schemes come, and murder, adultery and other sexual sin, theft, false witness and abusive speech. 20These are what make a person unclean. Eating without washing one’s hands does not make anyone unclean.”

21Jesus left that place and went away to the region around Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman who lived in that region came out and kept calling out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! A demon has my daughter in its grip, and she suffers terribly.” 23But he gave her no answer, not even a word. His disciples came and kept pressing him: “Send her away, because she keeps shouting behind us.” 24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.” 25But she came and bowed low before him. “Lord,” she said, “help me!” 26He replied, “It is not good to take bread away from the children and toss it to the little dogs.” 27She said, “That is true, Lord. Still, the little dogs eat some of the crumbs that drop from the table where their masters eat.” 28Then Jesus told her, “Woman, your faith is great. May it be done for you as you wish.” And from that moment her daughter was well.

29From there Jesus moved on and came along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He went up onto the mountain and sat down there. 30Large crowds came to him, bringing people who could not speak, the blind, the lame, the crippled, and many others. They laid them down at his feet, and he healed them. 31The crowd was amazed to see the mute speaking, the crippled made whole, the lame walking and the blind able to see. And they glorified the God of Israel.

32Jesus called his disciples together and said, “I feel deep pity for the crowd. For three days now they have stayed with me, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them off without food, they may give out on the way, and I am not willing to do that.” 33The disciples said to him, “Here in this lonely place, where could we find enough bread to feed such a crowd?” 34Jesus asked them, “How many loaves have you got?” “Seven,” they said, “and a few little fish.” 35He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and broke them. He kept handing them to the disciples, and the disciples handed them to the people. 37Everyone ate until they were full. Then they gathered up the leftover pieces, and these filled seven large baskets. 38Those who ate numbered 4,000 men, and there were women and children besides. 39After sending the crowds away, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.