Matthew 15
New American Standard Bible
Tradition and Commandment
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 also break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘(D)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘(E)The one 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 I have that would help you has been [b]given to God,” 6 he is not to [c]honor his father or mother.’ And by this you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying:
8 ‘(F)This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
9 And in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as (G)doctrines the commandments of men.’”
10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand! 11 (H)It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the person.”
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 will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone; (J)they are blind guides [e]of blind people. And (K)if a person who is blind guides another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”
The Heart of Man
15 Peter [f]said to Him, “(L)Explain the parable to us.” 16 [g]Jesus said, “Are you also still lacking in understanding? 17 Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is [h]eliminated? 18 But (M)the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things defile the person. 19 (N)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and [i]slanderous statements. 20 These are the things that defile the person; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the person.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 (O)Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the region of (P)Tyre and (Q)Sidon. 22 And 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 severely (S)demon-possessed.” 23 But He did not answer her with even a word. And His disciples came up and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting [j]at us!” 24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to (T)the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and (U)began [k]to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 Yet He answered and said, “It is not [l]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 And she said, “Yes, Lord; but please help, for even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, (V)your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed [m]at once.
Healing Crowds
29 (W)Departing from there, Jesus went along (X)the Sea of Galilee, and after going up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30 And [n]large crowds came to Him bringing with them those who were limping, had impaired limbs, were blind, or were unable to speak, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and (Y)He healed them. 31 So the crowd was astonished as they saw those who were unable to speak talking, those with impaired limbs [o]restored, those who were limping walking around, and those who were blind seeing; and they (Z)glorified the God of Israel.
Four Thousand Men Fed
32 (AA)Now Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “(AB)I feel compassion for the [p]people, because they [q]have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” 33 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 [r]people to [s]sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after (AC)giving thanks, He broke them and started 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 Lit a gift; i.e., an offering
- Matthew 15:6 I.e., by supporting them with it
- Matthew 15:12 Lit caused to stumble
- Matthew 15:14 Later mss add of blind people
- Matthew 15:15 Lit answering, said
- Matthew 15:16 Lit and He
- Matthew 15:17 Lit thrown out into the latrine
- Matthew 15:19 Or abusive speech
- Matthew 15:23 Lit behind us
- Matthew 15:25 Or worshiped
- Matthew 15:26 Or proper
- Matthew 15:28 Lit from that hour
- Matthew 15:30 Lit many
- Matthew 15:31 Or healthy
- Matthew 15:32 Lit crowd
- Matthew 15:32 Lit are remaining
- Matthew 15:35 Lit crowd
- Matthew 15:35 Lit recline
Matthew 15
Christian Standard Bible
The Tradition of the Elders
15 Then(A) Jesus was approached by Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, who asked,(B) 2 “Why do your disciples(C) break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”[a](D)
3 He answered them, “Why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said:[b] Honor your father and your mother;[c](E) and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.[d](F) 5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple,” 6 he does not have to honor his father.’[e] In this way, you have nullified the word of God[f] because of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
8 This people[g] honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
9 They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines human commands.”[h](G)
Defilement Is from Within
10 Summoning the crowd, he told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles(H) a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.”(I)
12 Then the disciples came up and told him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted.(J) 14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides.[i] And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”(K)
15 Then Peter said, “Explain this parable to us.”(L)
16 “Do you still lack understanding?” he[j] asked. 17 “Don’t you realize[k] that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated?[l] 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person.(M) 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies,(N) slander.(O) 20 These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”(P)
A Gentile Mother’s Faith
21 When Jesus left there,(Q) he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon.(R) 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out,[m] “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”(S)
23 Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples(T) approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”
24 He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”(U)
25 But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!”
26 He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”(V)
27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment[n] her daughter was healed.(W)
Healing Many People
29 Moving on from there,(X) Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee.(Y) He went up on a mountain and sat there, 30 and large crowds came to him, including the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 So the crowd was amazed when they saw those unable to speak talking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing,(Z) and they gave glory to the God of Israel.
Feeding of the Four Thousand
32 Jesus called his disciples and said,(AA) “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, otherwise they might collapse on the way.”
33 The disciples said to him, “Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place(AB) to feed such a crowd?”
34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked them.
“Seven,” they said, “and a few small fish.”
35 After commanding 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 the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.(AC) 37 They all ate and were satisfied. They collected the leftover pieces—seven large baskets full. 38 Now there were four thousand men who had eaten, besides women and children. 39 After dismissing the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.[o](AD)
Footnotes
- 15:2 Lit eat bread = eat a meal
- 15:4 Other mss read commanded, saying
- 15:4 Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16
- 15:4 Ex 21:17; Lv 20:9
- 15:6 Other mss read then he does not have to honor his father or mother
- 15:6 Other mss read commandment
- 15:8 Other mss add draw near to me with their mouths, and
- 15:8–9 Is 29:13 LXX
- 15:14 Other mss add for the blind
- 15:16 Other mss read Jesus
- 15:17 Other mss add yet
- 15:17 Lit and goes out into the toilet
- 15:22 Other mss read and cried out to him
- 15:28 Lit hour
- 15:39 Other mss read Magdala
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