Matthew 15
New Testament for Everyone
Discussions of clean and unclean
15 At that time some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus. They had a question for him.
2 “Why,” they said, “do your disciples go against the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands when they eat their food!”
3 “Why,” Jesus replied, “do you go against the command of God because of your tradition? 4 What God said was ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘If anyone speaks evil of father or mother, they must certainly die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone says to father or mother, “What you might have gained from me is given to God,” 6 they don’t need to honor their father anymore.’ As a result, you make God’s word null and void because of your tradition.
7 “You play-actors! Isaiah had the right words for you in his prophecy:
8 This people gives me honor with their lips,
their heart, however, holds me at arm’s length.
9 The worship which they offer me is vain,
because they teach, as law, mere human precepts.”
The parable of clean and unclean
10 Then Jesus called the crowd, and said to them, “Listen and understand. 11 What makes someone unclean isn’t what goes into the mouth. It’s what comes out of the mouth that makes someone unclean.”
12 Then the disciples came to Jesus.
“Do you know,” they said, “that the Pharisees were horrified when they heard what you said?”
13 “Every plant that my heavenly father hasn’t planted,” replied Jesus, “will be plucked up by the roots. 14 Let them be. They are blind guides. But if one blind person guides another, both of them will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter spoke up. “Explain the riddle to us,” he said.
16 “Are you still slow on the uptake as well?” replied Jesus. 17 “Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth travels on into the stomach and goes out into the drain? 18 But what comes out of the mouth begins in the heart, and that’s what makes someone unclean. 19 Out of the heart, you see, come evil plots, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, and blasphemy. 20 These are the things that make someone unclean. But eating with unwashed hands doesn’t make a person unclean.”
The Canaanite woman
21 Jesus left that place and went off to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from those parts came out and shouted, “Have pity on me, Lord, son of David! My daughter is demon-possessed! She’s in a bad way!” 23 Jesus, however, said nothing at all to her.
His disciples came up.
“Please send her away,” they asked. “She’s shouting after us.”
24 “I was only sent,” replied Jesus, “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 The woman, however, came and threw herself down at his feet.
“Master,” she said, “please help me!”
26 “It isn’t right,” replied Jesus, “to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
27 “I know, Master,” she said. “But even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.”
28 “You’ve got great faith, haven’t you, my friend!” replied Jesus. “All right; let it be as you wish.”
And her daughter was healed from that moment.
The feeding of the four thousand
29 Jesus went away from there, and arrived beside the sea of Galilee. He went up the mountain and sat down. 30 Large crowds came to him, with their lame, blind, crippled, mute and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 When the crowd saw the mute speaking, the crippled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, they were astonished, and they gave praise to the God of Israel.
32 Jesus called his disciples, and said, “I am really sorry for the crowd. They’ve been around me now for three days and they haven’t got anything to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry; they might faint on the way home.”
33 The disciples said to him, “Where could we get enough bread to feed a crowd this size, out here in the country?”
34 “How many loaves have you got?” asked Jesus.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”
35 Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up seven baskets full of what was left of the broken pieces. 38 There were four thousand men who had eaten, besides the women and children.
39 Jesus sent the crowds away. Then he got into the boat and went over to the Magadan coast.
Matthew 15
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
15 Then from Jerusalem came scribes and Pharisees and said,
2 Why do Your disciples transgress and violate the rules handed down by the elders of the past? For they do not practice [ceremonially] washing their hands before they eat.
3 He replied to them, And why also do you transgress and violate the commandment of God for the sake of the rules handed down to you by your forefathers (the elders)?
4 For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother, and, He who curses or reviles or speaks evil of or abuses or treats improperly his father or mother, let him surely come to his end by death.(A)
5 But you say, If anyone tells his father or mother, What you would have gained from me [that is, the money and whatever I have that might be used for helping you] is already dedicated as a gift to God, then he is exempt and no longer under obligation to honor and help his father or his mother.
6 So for the sake of your tradition (the rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect].
7 You pretenders (hypocrites)! Admirably and truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said:
8 These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.
9 Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men.(B)
10 And Jesus called the people to Him and said to them, Listen and grasp and comprehend this:
11 It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles [him].
12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were displeased and offended and indignant when they heard this saying?
13 He answered, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be torn up by the roots.(C)
14 Let them alone and disregard them; they are blind guides and teachers. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a ditch.
15 But Peter said to Him, Explain this [a]proverb (this [b]maxim) to us.
16 And He said, Are you also even yet dull and ignorant [without understanding and [c]unable to put things together]?
17 Do you not see and understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the [d]abdomen and so passes on into the place where discharges are deposited?
18 But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what makes a man unclean and defiles [him].
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts (reasonings and disputings and designs) such as murder, adultery, sexual vice, theft, false witnessing, slander, and irreverent speech.
20 These are what make a man unclean and defile [him]; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean or defile [him].
21 And going away from there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold, a woman who was a Canaanite from that district came out and, with a [loud, troublesomely urgent] cry, begged, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is miserably and distressingly and cruelly possessed by a demon!
23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us.
24 He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 But she came and, kneeling, worshiped Him and kept praying, Lord, help me!
26 And He answered, It is not right (proper, becoming, or fair) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the [e]little dogs.
27 She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little pups ([f]little whelps) eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters’ table.
28 Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you wish. And her daughter was cured from that [g]moment.
29 And Jesus went on from there and passed along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up into the hills and kept sitting there.
30 And a great multitude came to Him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He cured them,
31 So that the crowd was amazed when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they [h]recognized and praised and thanked and glorified the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I have pity and sympathy and am deeply moved for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and they have nothing [at all left] to eat; and I am not willing to send them away hungry, lest they faint or become exhausted on the way.
33 And the disciples said to Him, Where are we to get bread sufficient to feed so great a crowd in this isolated and desert place?
34 And Jesus asked them, How many loaves of bread do you have? They replied, Seven, and a few small fish.
35 And ordering the crowd to recline on the ground,
36 He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when He had given thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they gathered up seven [[i]large provision] baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.
38 Those who ate were 4,000 men, not including the women and the children.
39 Then He dismissed the crowds, got into the boat, and went to the district of Magadan.
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:15 G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon.
- Matthew 15:15 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- Matthew 15:16 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
- Matthew 15:17 James Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary.
- Matthew 15:26 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Matthew 15:27 John Wycliffe, The Wycliffe Bible.
- Matthew 15:28 James Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary.
- Matthew 15:31 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
- Matthew 15:37 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies. See also footnote on Matt. 14:20.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
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