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15 Some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to ask Jesus a question.

Scribes and Pharisees: The law of Moses has always held that one must ritually wash his hands before eating. Why don’t Your disciples observe this tradition?

Jesus turned the Pharisees’ question back on them.

Jesus: Why do you violate God’s command because of your tradition? God said, “Honor your father and mother.[a] Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.”[b] 5-6 But you say that one need no longer honor his parents so long as he says to them, “What you might have gained from me, I now give to the glory of God.” Haven’t you let your tradition trump the word of God? You hypocrites! Isaiah must have had you in mind when he prophesied,

    People honor Me with their lips,
        but their hearts are nowhere near Me.
    Because they elevate mere human ritual to the status of law,
        their worship of Me is a meaningless sham.[c]

10 (to the multitude) Hear and understand this: 11 What you put into your mouth cannot make you clean or unclean; it is what comes out of your mouth that can make you unclean.

12 Later the disciples came to Him.

Disciples: Do You realize the Pharisees were shocked by what You said?

Jesus: 13 Every plant planted by someone other than My heavenly Father will be plucked up by the roots. 14 So let them be. They are blind guides. What happens when one blind person leads another? Both of them fall into a ditch.

Peter: 15 Explain that riddle to us.

Jesus: 16 Do you still not see? 17 Don’t you understand that whatever you take in through your mouth makes its way to your stomach and eventually out of the bowels of your body? 18 But the things that come out of your mouth—your curses, your fears, your denunciations—these come from your heart, and it is the stirrings of your heart that can make you unclean. 19 For your heart harbors evil thoughts—fantasies of murder, adultery, and whoring; fantasies of stealing, lying, and slandering. 20 These make you unclean—not eating with a hand you’ve not ritually purified with a splash of water and a prayer.

21 Jesus left that place and withdrew to Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman—a non-Jew—came to Him.

Canaanite Woman (wailing): Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is possessed by a demon. Have mercy, Lord!

23 Jesus said nothing. And the woman continued to wail. His disciples came to Him.

Disciples: Do something—she keeps crying after us!

Jesus: 24 I was sent here only to gather up the lost sheep of Israel.

25 The woman came up to Jesus and knelt before Him.

Canaanite Woman: Lord, help me!

Jesus: 26 It is not right to waste the children’s bread by feeding dogs.

Canaanite Woman: 27 But, Lord, even dogs eat the crumbs that fall by the table as their master is eating.

28 Jesus—whose ancestors included Ruth and Rahab—spoke with kindness and insight.

Jesus: Woman, you have great faith. And your request is done.

And her daughter was healed, right then and from then on.

29 Jesus left and went to the Sea of Galilee. He went up on a mountaintop and sat down. 30 Crowds thronged to Him there, bringing the lame, the maimed, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many other sick and broken people. They laid them at His feet, and He healed them. 31 The people saw the mute speaking, the lame walking, the maimed made whole, the crippled dancing, and the blind seeing; and the people were amazed, and they praised the God of Israel.

Jesus (to His disciples): 32 We must take pity on these people for they have touched My heart; they have been with Me for three days, and they don’t have any food. I don’t want to send them home this hungry—they might collapse on the way!

Disciples: 33 We’ll never find enough food for all these people, out here in the middle of nowhere!

Jesus: 34 How much bread do you have?

Disciples: Seven rounds of flatbread and a few small fish.

35 He told the crowd to sit down. 36 He took the bread and the fish, He gave thanks, and then He broke the bread and divided the fish. He gave the bread and fish to the disciples, the disciples distributed them to the people, 37 and everyone ate and was satisfied. When everyone had eaten, the disciples picked up seven baskets of crusts and broken pieces and crumbs.

38 There were 4,000 men there, not to mention all the women and children. 39 Then Jesus sent the crowd away. He got into the boat and went to Magadan.

傳統與誡命

15 有幾個法利賽人和律法教師從耶路撒冷來質問耶穌: 「為什麼你的門徒吃飯前不行洗手禮,破壞祖先的傳統呢?」

耶穌回答說:「為什麼你們拘守傳統而違背上帝的誡命呢? 上帝說,『要孝敬父母』,又說,『咒罵父母的,必被處死。』 你們卻說,『人如果把供養父母的錢奉獻給上帝, 他就不必供養父母。』你們這是用傳統來廢掉上帝的誡命。 你們這些偽君子,以賽亞指著你們說的預言一點沒錯,

『這些人嘴上尊崇我,
心卻遠離我,
他們的教導無非是人的規條,
他們敬拜我也是枉然。』」

10 耶穌召集了眾人,對他們說:「你們要聽,也要明白。 11 入口的東西不會使人污穢,從口中出來的才會使人污穢。」

12 門徒上前對祂說:「你知道嗎?法利賽人聽見你的話很反感。」

13 耶穌回答說:「凡不是我天父栽種的都要被連根拔起來。 14 隨便他們吧!他們是瞎眼的嚮導。瞎子給瞎子領路,二人都會掉進坑裡。」

15 彼得對耶穌說:「請給我們解釋一下這個比喻。」

16 耶穌說:「你們還不明白嗎? 17 豈不知入口的東西都是進到肚子裡,然後排泄到廁所裡嗎? 18 可是,從口中出來的乃是發自內心,會使人污穢。 19 因為從心裡出來的有惡念、謀殺、通姦、淫亂、偷盜、假見證和毀謗, 20 這些東西才使人污穢。不洗手吃飯並不會使人污穢。」

迦南婦人的信心

21 耶穌從那裡退到泰爾和西頓境內。 22 那地方有個迦南的婦人前來大聲懇求耶穌:「主啊!大衛的後裔啊!可憐我吧!我的女兒被鬼附身,受盡折磨!」 23 耶穌卻一言不發。門徒上前求祂說:「請讓她走吧!她老是在後面喊叫。」

24 耶穌說:「我奉差遣只是來尋找以色列家迷失的羊。」

25 那婦人上前跪下,說:「主啊!求你幫幫我吧!」

26 耶穌答道:「把兒女的食物丟給狗吃,不合適。」

27 婦人說:「主啊,沒錯,可是狗也吃主人飯桌上掉下來的碎渣呀!」

28 耶穌說:「婦人,你的信心真大!我答應你的要求。」就在那一刻,她女兒就好了。

耶穌使四千人吃飽

29 耶穌離開那裡,來到加利利湖邊,上了山,在那裡坐下。 30 大群的人把瘸子、瞎子、殘疾的、啞巴及許多別的病人帶來,放在祂腳前,祂就治好了他們。 31 大家看見啞巴說話,殘疾的復原,瘸子走路,瞎子看見,都很驚奇,就讚美以色列的上帝。

32 耶穌把門徒召集過來,對他們說:「我憐憫這些人,他們跟我在一起已經三天,沒有任何吃的。我不願讓他們餓著肚子回去,以免他們在路上體力不支。」

33 門徒說:「在這荒野,我們到哪裡找足夠的食物給這麼多人吃呢?」

34 耶穌問:「你們有多少餅?」

門徒答道:「七個,還有幾條小魚。」

35 耶穌便吩咐大家坐在地上。 36 祂拿著那七個餅和幾條魚祝謝後,掰開,遞給門徒,門徒再分給大家。 37 大家都吃了,並且吃飽了,剩下的零碎裝滿了七個筐子。 38 當時吃飯的,除了婦女和小孩,共有四千男人。 39 隨後,耶穌叫眾人散去,自己坐船去了馬加丹地區。

Tradition and Commandment

15 (A)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus (B)from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they (C)do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves also break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 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.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been [b]given to God,” 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. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying:

(F)This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
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

  1. Matthew 15:4 Lit die the death
  2. Matthew 15:5 Lit a gift; i.e., an offering
  3. Matthew 15:6 I.e., by supporting them with it
  4. Matthew 15:12 Lit caused to stumble
  5. Matthew 15:14 Later mss add of blind people
  6. Matthew 15:15 Lit answering, said
  7. Matthew 15:16 Lit and He
  8. Matthew 15:17 Lit thrown out into the latrine
  9. Matthew 15:19 Or abusive speech
  10. Matthew 15:23 Lit behind us
  11. Matthew 15:25 Or worshiped
  12. Matthew 15:26 Or proper
  13. Matthew 15:28 Lit from that hour
  14. Matthew 15:30 Lit many
  15. Matthew 15:31 Or healthy
  16. Matthew 15:32 Lit crowd
  17. Matthew 15:32 Lit are remaining
  18. Matthew 15:35 Lit crowd
  19. Matthew 15:35 Lit recline