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 Mankind
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
Evangelical Heritage Version
Commandments and Traditions
15 Then the Pharisees and experts in the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[a] and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of his father or mother should be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say that if someone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might have received from me has been dedicated as a gift to God,’[c] 6 that man does not need to honor his father or his mother.[d] And so you set aside the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
9 They worship me in vain, teaching human rules as if they are doctrines.”[e]
10 Then he summoned the crowd and said to them, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into the mouth does not make a person unclean, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.”
12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this saying?”
13 He answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Let them go. They are blind guides of the blind.[f] And if the blind are guiding the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter replied and said to him, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 Jesus said, “Do you still not understand? 17 Do you not understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated into the latrine? 18 But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. That is what defiles a person. 19 To be sure, out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and blasphemies. 20 These are the things that defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Jesus left that place and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 There a Canaanite woman from that territory came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! A demon is severely tormenting my daughter!”
23 But he did not answer her a word.
His disciples came and pleaded, “Send her away, because she keeps 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 knelt in front of him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
26 He answered her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to their little dogs.”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet their little dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! It will be done for you, just as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at that very hour.
29 Jesus moved on from there and went along the Sea of Galilee. He went up onto the mountain and sat there. 30 Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them down at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds More Than Four Thousand
32 Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with me already three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they might faint on the way.”
33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get so many loaves in the wilderness to satisfy such a large crowd?”
34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and broke them. He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37 They all ate and were filled. They picked up seven basketfuls of the broken pieces that were left over. 38 Those who ate numbered four thousand men, without counting the women and children. 39 After Jesus sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16
- Matthew 15:4 Exodus 21:17
- Matthew 15:5 See Mark 7:11.
- Matthew 15:6 A few witnesses to the text omit or his mother.
- Matthew 15:9 Isaiah 29:13
- Matthew 15:14 A few witnesses to the text omit of the blind.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.