Chronological

15 Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus.

² They asked him, `Why do your disciples break the law our fathers made? They do not wash their hands before they eat.'

³ Jesus asked them, `Why do you break God's law so that you can keep your own law?

⁴ God said, "Respect your father and your mother." And God said, "Anyone who says wrong things to his father or his mother will surely die."

⁵ `But you say, "Tell your father or your mother that you have given to God what you were going to give to them." You say, "If anyone says that, then he does not need to help his father or mother."

⁶ You make God's law to mean nothing so you can keep your own laws!

⁷ You are not true to yourselves! What Isaiah said about you was true. He said,

⁸ "These people respect me with their mouth but their heart is far from me.

⁹ They do not mean it in their hearts when they worship me. Their teachings are only the words of men." '

¹⁰ Jesus called the people to him. He said to them, `Listen to me and understand what I say.

¹¹ What goes into a person's mouth does not make him dirty. But what comes out of a person's mouth makes him dirty.'

¹² Then the disciples came to Jesus. They said, `The Pharisees were angry when they heard what you said. Did you know that?'

¹³ Jesus answered, `Every plant that my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled out by the roots.

¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind men who are trying to lead blind men. If a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a hole.'

¹⁵ Peter said to Jesus, `Tell us the meaning of that story.'

¹⁶ Jesus said, `Do you still not understand?

¹⁷ Do you not know this? What goes into the mouth goes into the stomach, and then it goes out of the body.

¹⁸ But what comes out of the mouth, comes from the heart. This is what makes a person dirty.

¹⁹ Here is what comes from the heart: wrong thoughts, killing people, all kinds of adultery, stealing, lying, and saying wrong things about people.

²⁰ These things make a person dirty. To eat with hands that are not washed does not make him dirty.'

²¹ Jesus left that place and went to the country of Tyre and Sidon. 22A woman of the people of Canaan was in that country. She called out, `Sir, you are the Son of David. Help me! My daughter is being troubled very much by a bad spirit.'

²² Jesus did not answer her. His disciples came to him and said, `Send her away. She keeps calling after us.'

²³ He said, `I was sent only to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep.'

²⁴ But the woman came and bowed down in front of Jesus and worshipped him. She said, `Sir, help me.'

²⁵ He said, `It is not right to take the children's food and give it to the little dogs.'

²⁶ She answered, `Yes, sir. But even the little dogs eat the food that falls from the tables of their masters.'

²⁷ Then Jesus answered, `Woman, you believe very much. The thing you want me to do will be done.' And her daughter was healed at that very time.

²⁸ Jesus went on from there along the Sea of Galilee. He went up on a hill and sat down there.

²⁹ Many people came to him. They brought sick people with them. Some were lame. Some were hurt. Some were blind. Some could not talk. And there were many others. They laid them down in front of Jesus. And he healed them.

³⁰ The people were surprised. They saw that people who had not been able to talk were talking. They saw that people who were hurt were made well. They saw that lame people were walking. They saw that blind people could see. And they praised the God of Israel.

³¹ Jesus called his disciples to him. He said, `I share the suffering of the people. They have been with me for three days and they have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry. If they go away hungry, they will get weak and fall on the way.'

³² The disciples said to him, `Where can we get enough food in this lonely place to feed so many people?'

³³ Jesus said to them, `How many loaves of bread have you?' They said, `We have seven, and a few small fish.'

³⁴ He told the people to sit down on the ground.

³⁵ Then he took the seven loaves of bread and the fish. He thanked God for them. Then he broke the bread and gave it to the disciples. The disciples gave it to the people.

³⁶ They all ate and had enough. They gathered seven baskets full of pieces that were left.

³⁷ The number of people who ate was about four thousand men, besides some women and children.

³⁸ Jesus sent the people away. Then he got in the boat and went to the country around Magadan.

7 Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus.

² They saw some of the disciples eating food. They had not washed their hands before they ate. The Pharisees said that was wrong.

³ They and all the Jews keep the laws made by men. God did not give them those laws. They do not eat until they wash their hands very well.

⁴ When they come from the market, they do not eat until they have washed themselves. They also keep many other laws such as washing cups, pots, brass pans, and beds.

⁵ The Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, `Why do your disciples not keep the law our fathers made? Why do they eat with hands that are not clean?'

^6-7 esus said to them, `Isaiah spoke the truth about you people! You are not true to yourselves! He wrote about you this way: "These people respect me with their mouths. But their hearts are far from me. They do not mean it in their hearts when they worship me. Their teachings are only words of men."

⁸ `You do not keep the law of God, but you keep the laws made by people. Those laws are about washing pots and cups. You do many other things like that also.

⁹ `You break God's law so that you can keep your own law.

¹⁰ Moses said, "Respect your father and your mother. Anyone who says wrong things to his father or his mother will die."

¹¹ You say, "Tell your father or your mother that what you were going to give to them is Corban." (That means a gift to God.)

¹² So you stop him from doing anything for his father and mother.

¹³ You make God's law to mean nothing so that you can keep your own laws. You do many other things like that also.'

¹⁴ Then Jesus called the people to him again. He said, `Listen to me, all of you, and understand what I say.

¹⁵ What goes into a person's mouth does not make him dirty. But what comes out of a person's mouth makes him dirty.

¹⁶ Everyone who has ears to hear, listen!'

¹⁷ Jesus left the people and went into a house. His disciples asked him the meaning of the story.

¹⁸ He said, `Do you still not understand? Do you not know this? What goes into a person from the outside cannot make a person dirty.

¹⁹ It does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and then it goes out of the body.' By saying this, Jesus meant that food does not make a person dirty.

²⁰ But he said, `What comes out of a person makes him dirty. 21,

²¹ Here is what comes from the heart: wrong thoughts, all kinds of adultery, stealing, killing, wanting things that other people have, doing very wrong things, fooling people, breaking the law, jealousy, saying wrong things about people, being proud, being foolish.

²² All these wrong things come from a person's heart and make him dirty.'

²³ Then Jesus went away to the country of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. But he could not hide from the people.

²⁴ Right away a woman heard of him. She came and kneeled down before him. Her daughter had a bad spirit in her.

²⁵ The woman was not a Jew and had been born in the country of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the bad spirit out of her daughter.

²⁶ But Jesus said to her, `We will give the children all they want to eat first. It is not right to take the children's food and give it to the little dogs.'

²⁷ She answered, `Yes, Sir. But even the little dogs under the table eat food that falls from the children's table.'

²⁸ Jesus said to her, `Because you have said this, you may go home. The bad spirit has gone out of your daughter.'

²⁹ When she came to her house, she found that the bad spirit had left. Her daughter was lying on the bed.

³⁰ Jesus went away from Tyre and Sidon and came to the sea of Galilee. He passed through the country of the Ten Towns.

³¹ The people brought a man to Jesus who could not hear and could not talk well. They begged Jesus to put his hand on him.

³² So Jesus took him away alone. He put his fingers in the man's ears. Then he spat and touched the man's tongue.

³³ He looked up to heaven and sighed. He said, `Ephphatha!' That means, `Be opened!'

³⁴ Right away the man's ears were opened and his tongue was made free. He could talk well.

³⁵ Jesus said, `Do not tell anyone.' But the more he told them not to tell, the more they told it everywhere.

³⁶ The people were very much surprised. They said, `He has done everything well. The people who could not hear can hear. The people who could not talk can talk.'