Isaiah 32

New International Version

The Kingdom of Righteousness

32 See, a king^(A) will reign in righteousness
    and rulers will rule with justice.^(B)
²Each one will be like a shelter^(C) from the wind
    and a refuge from the storm,^(D)
like streams of water^(E) in the desert^(F)
    and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

³Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,^(G)
    and the ears^(H) of those who hear will listen.
⁴The fearful heart will know and understand,^(I)
    and the stammering tongue^(J) will be fluent and clear.
⁵No longer will the fool^(K) be called noble
    nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
⁶For fools speak folly,^(L)
    their hearts are bent on evil:^(M)
They practice ungodliness^(N)
    and spread error^(O) concerning the Lord;
the hungry they leave empty^(P)
    and from the thirsty they withhold water.
⁷Scoundrels use wicked methods,^(Q)
    they make up evil schemes^(R)
to destroy the poor with lies,
    even when the plea of the needy^(S) is just.^(T)
⁸But the noble make noble plans,
    and by noble deeds^(U) they stand.^(V)

The Women of Jerusalem

⁹You women^(W) who are so complacent,
    rise up and listen^(X) to me;
you daughters who feel secure,^(Y)
    hear what I have to say!
¹⁰In little more than a year^(Z)
    you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,^(AA)
    and the harvest of fruit will not come.
¹¹Tremble,^(AB) you complacent women;
    shudder, you daughters who feel secure!^(AC)
Strip off your fine clothes^(AD)
    and wrap yourselves in rags.^(AE)
¹²Beat your breasts^(AF) for the pleasant fields,
    for the fruitful vines^(AG)
¹³and for the land of my people,
    a land overgrown with thorns and briers^(AH)—
yes, mourn^(AI) for all houses of merriment
    and for this city of revelry.^(AJ)
¹⁴The fortress^(AK) will be abandoned,
    the noisy city deserted;^(AL)
citadel and watchtower^(AM) will become a wasteland forever,
    the delight of donkeys,^(AN) a pasture for flocks,^(AO)
¹⁵till the Spirit^(AP) is poured on us from on high,
    and the desert becomes a fertile field,^(AQ)
    and the fertile field seems like a forest.^(AR)
¹⁶The Lord’s justice^(AS) will dwell in the desert,^(AT)
    his righteousness^(AU) live in the fertile field.
¹⁷The fruit of that righteousness^(AV) will be peace;^(AW)
    its effect will be quietness and confidence^(AX) forever.
¹⁸My people will live in peaceful^(AY) dwelling places,
    in secure homes,^(AZ)
    in undisturbed places of rest.^(BA)
¹⁹Though hail^(BB) flattens the forest^(BC)
    and the city is leveled^(BD) completely,
²⁰how blessed you will be,
    sowing^(BE) your seed by every stream,^(BF)
    and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.^(BG)

Matthew 15:1-31

New International Version

That Which Defiles^(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ²“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”^(B)

³Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a]^(C) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^[b]^(D) ⁵But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

⁸“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
⁹They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.^(E)’^[c]^(F)”

¹⁰Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,^(G) but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”^(H)

¹²Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted^(I) will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴Leave them; they are blind guides.^[d]^(J) If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”^(K)

¹⁵Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”^(L)

¹⁶“Are you still so dull?”^(M) Jesus asked them. ¹⁷“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,^(N) and these defile them. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.^(O) ²⁰These are what defile a person;^(P) but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman^(Q)

²¹Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.^(R) ²²A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David,^(S) have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”^(T)

²³Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”^(U)

²⁵The woman came and knelt before him.^(V) “Lord, help me!” she said.

²⁶He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁷“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

²⁸Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith!^(W) Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand^(X)^(Y)^(Z)

²⁹Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.^(AA) ³¹The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.^(AB)

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