Matthew 15

Tree of Life Version

Religious Leaders Quiz Yeshua

15 Then some Pharisees and Torah scholars came to Yeshua from Jerusalem. They said, ² “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not do the ritual handwashing when they eat bread.”

³ And answering, He said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a] and ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.’ ^{[b] 5} But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever you might have gained from me is a gift to God,” ^{[c] 6} he need not honor his father.’ On account of your tradition, you made void the word of God. ⁷ Hypocrites! Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying,

¹⁰ Then Yeshua called the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. ¹¹ It’s not what goes into the mouth that makes the man unholy; but what comes out of the mouth, this makes the man unholy.”^[e]

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

¹³ But He replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

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

¹⁶ “Are you also still lacking understanding?” Yeshua said. ¹⁷ “Don’t you grasp that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is ejected into the sewer? ¹⁸ But the things that proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and those things make the man unholy. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. ^{[f] 20} These are the things that make the man unholy; but to eat with unwashed hands does not make the man unholy.”

A Reward for a Humble Woman

²¹ Now Yeshua left from there and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² And behold, a Canaanite woman from that district came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, O Master, Ben-David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”

²³ But He did not answer her a word. And when His disciples came, they were urging Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.”

²⁴ But He responded, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵ So she came and got down on her knees before Him, saying, “Master, help me!”

²⁶ And answering, He said, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁷ But she said, “Yes, Master, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Then answering, Yeshua said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed in that very hour.

²⁹ After Yeshua left there, He went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountainside and was sitting there. ³⁰ And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, blind, disabled, mute, and many others. And they laid them at His feet, and He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the disabled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing.^[g] And they praised the God of Israel.

Feeding More Hungry Followers

³² Yeshua called His disciples and said, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they’ve stayed with Me for three days now and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, because they might pass out on the way.”

³³ The disciples said to Him, “Where in this wasteland is enough bread to satisfy such a large crowd?”

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

“Seven,” they said, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵ After directing the crowd to recline on the ground, ³⁶ He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks, He broke them. And He began giving them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. ³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up the broken pieces left over—seven baskets full. ³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹ And after sending away the crowds, Yeshua got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.