A Gentile Mother’s Faith

²¹ When Jesus left there,^(A) he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon.^{(B) 22} Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out,^[a] “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”^(C)

²³ Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples^(D) 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.”^(E)

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.”^(F)

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^[b] her daughter was healed.^(G)

Healing Many People

²⁹ Moving on from there,^(H) Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee.^(I) 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,^(J) and they gave glory to the God of Israel.

Feeding of the Four Thousand

³² Jesus called his disciples and said,^(K) “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^(L) 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.^{(M) 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.^[c](N)

A Gentile Mother’s Faith

²⁴ He got up and departed from^(A) there to the region of Tyre.^[a](B) He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not escape notice. ²⁵ Instead, immediately after hearing about him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit^(C) came and fell at his feet.^{(D) 26} The woman was a Gentile,^[b](E) a Syrophoenician by birth, and she was asking him to cast the demon^(F) out of her daughter. ²⁷ He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”^(G)

²⁸ But she replied to him, “Lord,^(H) even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ Then he told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.

Jesus Does Everything Well

³¹ Again, leaving the region of Tyre,^(I) he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,^(J) through^[c] the region of the Decapolis.^{(K) 32} They brought to him a deaf^(L) man who had difficulty speaking^(M) and begged Jesus to lay his hand on^(N) him. ³³ So he took him away from the crowd in private. After putting his fingers in the man’s ears and spitting,^(O) he touched his tongue. ³⁴ Looking up to heaven,^(P) he sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!”^[d] (that is, “Be opened!”). ³⁵ Immediately his ears were opened,^(Q) his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly.^{(R) 36} He ordered them to tell no one,^(S) but the more he ordered them, the more they proclaimed it.^(T)

³⁷ They were extremely astonished and said, “He has done everything well.^(U) He even makes the deaf^(V) hear and the mute speak.”^(W)

Feeding Four Thousand

8 In^(X) those days there was again a large crowd, and they had nothing to eat. He called^(Y) the disciples^(Z) and said to them, ² “I have compassion^(AA) on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. ³ If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way,^(AB) and some of them have come a long distance.”

⁴ His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to feed^(AC) these people?”

⁵ “How many loaves do you have?” he asked them.

“Seven,” they said. ⁶ He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, broke^(AD) them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. So they served them to the crowd. ⁷ They also had a few small fish, and after he had blessed them, he said these were to be served as well. ⁸ They ate and were satisfied. Then they collected seven large baskets of leftover pieces. ⁹ About four thousand were there. He dismissed them. ¹⁰ And he immediately got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.