Matthew 15
Modern English Version
The Tradition of the Elders(A)
15 Then scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples violate the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 But He answered them, “Why do you also violate the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[a] and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say, ‘Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, “What you would have profited from me is a gift to God,” 6 will be free from honoring his father or his mother.’ So you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, Isaiah well prophesied of you, saying:
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.
9 In vain they do worship Me,
teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’[c]”
10 He called the crowds and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 That which goes into the mouth does not defile a man, but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying?”
13 But He answered, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch.”
15 Then Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
16 Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters at the mouth goes into the stomach and is cast out into the sewer? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
The Faith of the Canaanite Woman(B)
21 Then Jesus went from there and departed into the regions of Tyre and Sidon. 22 There, a woman of Canaan came out of the same regions and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David. My daughter is severely possessed by a demon.”
23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and begged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”
24 But He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 Then she came and worshipped Him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
26 But He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and to throw it to dogs.”
27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
The Healing of Many People
29 Jesus departed from there, and passed by the Sea of Galilee, and went up on a mountain and sat down there. 30 Great crowds came to Him, having with them those who were lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and placed them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them, 31 so that the crowds wondered when they saw the mute speak, the maimed made whole, the lame walk, and the blind see. And they glorified the God of Israel.
The Feeding of the Four Thousand(C)
32 Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I will not send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
33 His disciples said to Him, “Where will we get enough bread in the wilderness to feed such a great crowd?”
34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
And they said, “Seven and a few little fish.”
35 He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowd. 37 They all ate and were filled. And they collected seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 He sent the crowd away, and got into the boat, and went to the region of Magdala.
Footnotes
Matthew 15
Lexham English Bible
Human Traditions and God’s Commandments
15 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.”[a] 3 So he answered and[b] said to them, “Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your[c] father and your[d] mother,’[e] and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die[f].’[g] 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his[h] father or his[i] mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received[j] from me is a gift to God,” 6 need not honor his father,’[k] and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,
8 ‘This people honors me with their[l] lips,
but their heart is far, far away from me,
9 and they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”[m]
Defilement from Within
10 And summoning the crowd, he said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and[n] said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they[o] heard this saying?” 13 And he answered and[p] said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Let[q] them! They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter answered and[r] said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16 But he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not understand that everything that enters into the mouth goes into the stomach and is evacuated into the latrine? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the person. 19 For from the heart come evil plans, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, abusive speech. 20 These are the things that defile a person. But eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person!”
A Canaanite Woman’s Great Faith
21 And departing from there, Jesus went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that district came and cried out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came up and[s] asked him, saying, “Send her away, because she is crying out after us!” 24 But he answered and[t] said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and[u] knelt down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 And he answered and[v] said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it[w] to the dogs!” 27 So she said, “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you want.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Many Others Healed in Galilee
29 And departing from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up on the mountain and[x] was sitting there. 30 And large crowds came to him, having with them the mute, blind, lame, crippled,[y] and many others, and they put them down at his feet, and he healed them. 31 So then the crowd was astonished when they[z] saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.
The Feeding of Four Thousand
32 And Jesus summoned his disciples and[aa] said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with me three days already and do not have anything to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry lest they give out on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where in this desolate place can we get[ab] so much bread that such a great crowd could be satisfied?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” So they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.” 35 And commanding the crowd to recline for a meal on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish and after he[ac] had given thanks, he broke them[ad] and began giving[ae] them[af] 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 baskets full. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, in addition to women and children. 39 And after he[ag] sent away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:2 Literally “bread”
- Matthew 15:3 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:4 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Matthew 15:4 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Matthew 15:4 A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16
- Matthew 15:4 Literally “let him die the death”
- Matthew 15:4 A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9
- Matthew 15:5 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Matthew 15:5 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Matthew 15:5 Literally “you would have been benefited”
- Matthew 15:6 Most later manuscripts add “or his mother”
- Matthew 15:8 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Matthew 15:9 A quotation from Isa 29:13
- Matthew 15:12 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:12 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 15:13 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:14 Or “Depart from”
- Matthew 15:15 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:23 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came up”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:24 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:25 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:26 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:26 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Matthew 15:29 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went up”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:30 Some manuscripts have “the lame, blind, crippled, mute”
- Matthew 15:31 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 15:32 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“summoned”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 15:33 Literally “for us”
- Matthew 15:36 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had given thanks”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 15:36 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Matthew 15:36 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began giving”)
- Matthew 15:36 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Matthew 15:39 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had given thanks”) which is understood as temporal
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software