Matthew 15
Legacy Standard Bible
God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions
15 (A)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus (B)from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they (C)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, ‘(D)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘(E)He who speaks evil of father or mother is to [a]be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me [b]is given to God,” 6 he need not [c]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 ‘(F)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 (G)doctrines the commands of men.’”
10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11 (H)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 [d]offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “(I)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; (J)they are blind guides [e]of the blind. And (K)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, “(L)Explain the parable to us.” 16 And [f]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 (M)the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 (N)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 (O)And going away from there, Jesus withdrew into the district of (P)Tyre and (Q)Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, (R)Son of David; my daughter is cruelly (S)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 [g]at us.” 24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to (T)the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and [h](U)was bowing down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 And He answered and said, “It is not [i]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; [j]but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, (V)your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed [k]at once.
Jesus Heals the Crowds
29 (W)And departing from there, Jesus went along by (X)the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30 And [l]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 (Y)He healed them. 31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled [m]restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they (Z)glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
32 (AA)And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “(AB)I feel compassion for the crowd, because they [n]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 [o]sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and (AC)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 (AD)baskets full. 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into (AE)the boat and came to the region of (AF)Magadan.
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:4 Lit die the death
- Matthew 15:5 An offering; lit a gift
- Matthew 15:6 By supporting them with it
- Matthew 15:12 Lit caused to stumble
- Matthew 15:14 Some mss omit of the blind
- Matthew 15:16 Lit He
- Matthew 15:23 Lit behind us
- Matthew 15:25 Or worshiped
- Matthew 15:26 Or proper
- Matthew 15:27 Lit for
- Matthew 15:28 Lit from that hour
- Matthew 15:30 Lit many
- Matthew 15:31 Or healthy
- Matthew 15:32 Lit are remaining
- Matthew 15:35 Lit recline
Matthew 15
International Standard Version
Jesus Challenges the Tradition of the Elders(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples disregard the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands when they eat.”[a]
3 But he answered them, “Why do you also disregard the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 Because God said,[b] ‘You are to honor your father and your mother,’[c] and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother must certainly be put to death.’[d] 5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or his mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me has been given to God,”[e] 6 does not have to honor his father.’[f] Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded[g] the authority of God’s word.[h] 7 You hypocrites! How well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said,
8 ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 Their worship of me is empty,
because they teach human rules as doctrines.’”[i]
10 Then calling out to the crowd, he addressed them, “Listen and understand! 11 It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.”
12 Then the disciples came and asked him, “Do you realize that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind.[j] If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”
15 Then Peter told him, “Explain to us this[k] parable.”
16 Jesus[l] said, “Are you still so ignorant? 17 Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is expelled as waste? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is those things that make a person unclean. 19 It is out of the heart that evil thoughts come, as well as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, stealing, false testimony, and slander.[m] 20 These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands doesn’t make a person unclean.”
A Canaanite Woman’s Faith(B)
21 Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Suddenly, a Canaanite woman from that territory came near and began to shout, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed!” 23 But he didn’t answer her at all.[n]
Then his disciples came up and kept urging him, “Send her away, because she keeps on screaming as she follows[o] us.”
24 But he replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation[p] of Israel.”
25 Then she came and fell down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
26 He replied, “It’s not right[q] to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
27 She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ tables.”
28 Then Jesus answered her, “Lady,[r] your faith is great! What you want is granted.” That very hour her daughter was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a hillside and sat down. 30 Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to talk, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed to see those who were unable to talk speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds More than Four Thousand People(C)
32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion for the crowd because they have already been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away without food, or they may faint on the road.”
33 The disciples asked him, “Where in the wilderness are we to get enough bread to feed such a crowd?”
34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 Ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks. Then he broke them in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them[s] to the crowds. 37 All of them ate until they were filled, then the disciples[t] picked up what was left of the broken pieces—seven baskets full. 38 Now those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After he sent the crowds away, he got into a boat and went to the region of Magadan.[u]
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:2 Lit. eat bread
- Matthew 15:4 Other mss. read commanded, saying
- Matthew 15:4 Cf. Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16
- Matthew 15:4 Cf. Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9
- Matthew 15:5 Lit. is a gift
- Matthew 15:6 Other mss. read his father or his mother
- Matthew 15:6 Or invalidated
- Matthew 15:6 Other mss. read law; still other mss. read commandment
- Matthew 15:9 Cf. Isa 29:13
- Matthew 15:14 Other mss. lack of the blind
- Matthew 15:15 Other mss. read the
- Matthew 15:16 Lit. He
- Matthew 15:19 Or blasphemy
- Matthew 15:23 Lit. a word
- Matthew 15:23 Lit. screaming behind
- Matthew 15:24 Lit. house
- Matthew 15:26 Other mss. read lawful
- Matthew 15:28 Lit. Woman
- Matthew 15:36 The Gk. lacks gave them
- Matthew 15:37 Lit. they
- Matthew 15:39 Other mss. read Magdala
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