Matthew 15-17

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:

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.

Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus

16 ^(AG)The ^(AH)Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they ^(AI)asked Him to show them a ^[t]sign from heaven. ² But He replied to them, “^[u](AJ)When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ^(AK)You know how to discern the ^[v]appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times? ^4 (AL)An evil and adulterous generation wants a ^[w]sign; and so a ^[x]sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

⁵ And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and ^(AM)beware of the ^[y]leaven of the ^(AN)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” ⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, said, “^(AO)You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ⁹ Do you not yet understand nor remember ^(AP)the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up? ¹⁰ Nor ^(AQ)the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up? ¹¹ How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But ^(AR)beware of the ^[z]leaven of the ^(AS)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the ^[aa]leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the ^(AT)Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^13 (AU)Now when Jesus came into the region of ^(AV)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^(AW)the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(AX)John the Baptist; and others, ^[ab](AY)Elijah; and still others, ^[ac]Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are ^(AZ)the ^[ad]Christ, ^(BA)the Son of ^(BB)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^(BC)Simon ^[ae]Barjona, because ^(BD)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are ^[af](BE)Peter, and upon this ^[ag]rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^(BF)Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(BG)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^(BH)whatever you ^[ah]bind on earth ^[ai]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you ^[aj]loose on earth ^[ak]shall have been loosed in heaven.” ^20 (BI)Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was ^(BJ)the ^[al]Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (BK)From that time ^[am]Jesus began to ^[an]point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to ^(BL)suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. ²² And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “^[ao]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never ^[ap]happen to You!” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^(BM)Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on ^[aq]God’s purposes, but men’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^(BN)take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For ^(BO)whoever wants to save his ^[ar]life will lose it; but whoever loses his ^[as]life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^[at]forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the ^(BP)Son of Man ^(BQ)is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and ^(BR)will then repay every person according to his ^[au]deeds.

²⁸ “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the ^(BS)Son of Man ^(BT)coming in His kingdom.”

The Transfiguration

17 ^(BU)Six days later, Jesus *took with Him ^(BV)Peter and ^[av]James, and his brother John, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ² And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. ⁴ Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If You want, ^(BW)I will make three ^[aw]tabernacles here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, ^(BX)a voice from the cloud said, “^(BY)This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell ^[ax]face down to the ground and were terrified. ⁷ And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and ^(BZ)do not be afraid.” ⁸ And raising their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

^9 (CA)When they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “^(CB)Tell the vision to no one until ^(CC)the Son of Man has ^(CD)risen from the dead.” ¹⁰ And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that ^(CE)Elijah must come first?” ¹¹ And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; ¹² but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did ^[ay]to him whatever they wanted. So also ^(CF)the Son of Man is going to suffer ^[az]at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

The Demon-possessed Boy

^14 (CG)When they came to the crowd, a man came up to ^[ba]Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, ¹⁵ “^[bb]Lord, have mercy on my son, because he ^(CH)has seizures and suffers terribly; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was healed ^[bc]at once.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰ And He *said to them, “Because of your meager faith; for truly I say to you, ^(CI)if you have faith ^[bd]the size of ^(CJ)a mustard seed, you will say to ^(CK)this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and ^(CL)nothing will be impossible for you.^[be]”

^22 (CM)And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be ^[bf]handed over to men; ²³ and ^(CN)they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

The Temple Tax

²⁴ Now when they came to Capernaum, those who collected ^(CO)the ^[bg]two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay ^(CP)the ^[bh]two-drachma tax?” ²⁵ He *said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect ^(CQ)customs or ^[bi](CR)poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” ²⁶ When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are ^[bj]exempt. ²⁷ However, so that we do not ^(CS)offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a ^[bk]stater. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”