Chronological

Chapter 15

Traditions That Falsify the Law of God. ¹ Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ^2 [a]“Why do your disciples ignore the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before eating.” ³ He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘If anyone says to his father or mother, “Anything I might have used for your support is dedicated to God,” ⁶ then he is excused from his duty to honor his father or mother.’ To uphold your tradition you have made God’s word null and void. ⁷ You hypocrites! How rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said:

¹⁰ Clean and Unclean.^[b] Then he called the people to him and said to them, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ It is not what goes into one’s mouth that defiles a person; what comes out of the mouth is what defiles him.”

¹² The disciples approached and said to him, “Do you realize that the Pharisees were greatly offended when they heard what you said?” ¹³ He answered, “Every plant that my Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides. And if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a pit.”

¹⁵ Peter said to him, “Explain that parable to us.” ¹⁶ Jesus replied, “Are even you still without understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes through the stomach and is discharged into the sewer? ¹⁸ But what comes out of the mouth originates in the heart, and this is what defiles a person. ¹⁹ For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, slander. ²⁰ These are the things that defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not make anyone unclean.”

²¹ The Faith of a Pagan Woman.^[c] Jesus then left that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.^{[d] 22} And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out to meet him and cried out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David. My daughter is sorely tormented by a demon.” ²³ But he did not say a word to her in reply.

So his disciples came and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and knelt at his feet, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ He answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ She replied, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, you have great faith. Let it be done for you as you wish.” And from that moment her daughter was healed.

²⁹ Jesus Heals Many People.^[e]After leaving that region, Jesus walked along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and going up onto the mountain, he sat down. ³⁰ Large crowds flocked to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them. ³¹ The crowds were amazed when they observed the mute speaking, the crippled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind with their sight restored, and they gave praise to the God of Israel.

³² Jesus Feeds Four Thousand Men. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I am moved with compassion for these people, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

³³ The disciples said to him, “Where can we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to feed such a great crowd?” ³⁴ Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵ He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward, they picked up seven baskets full of what remained. ³⁸ Those who had eaten numbered four thousand men, not counting women and children. ³⁹ And when he had sent away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Chapter 7

Traditions That Falsify the Law of God.^{[a] 1} When the Pharisees, along with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around Jesus, ² they noted that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. ³ For the Pharisees, and in fact all Jews, do not eat without thoroughly washing their hands, thereby observing the tradition of the elders. ⁴ And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without first washing. In addition, there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and jugs and bronze kettles and tables.^[b]

⁵ Therefore, the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but eat with unclean hands?” ⁶ He answered, “How rightly Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ You thrust aside the commandment of God in order to preserve the traditions of men.”^[c]

⁹ Then he said to them, “How cleverly you have set aside the commandment of God to preserve your own tradition! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother will be put to death.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: “Anything I might have used for your support is Corban” ’^[d] (that is, dedicated to God), ¹² then he is forbidden by you from that very moment to do anything for his father or mother. ¹³ You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things just like that.”

¹⁴ Clean and Unclean.^[e] Then he called the people to him and said to them: “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. ¹⁵ There is nothing that goes into a person from outside that can defile him. The things that come out of a person are what defile him. [ ¹⁶ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!]”^[f]

¹⁷ When he had gone into the house, away from the crowds, his disciples questioned him about the parable. ¹⁸ He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ since it enters not into the heart but into the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?” Thus, he pronounced all foods clean.

²⁰ Then he went on, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. ²¹ For from within, from the human heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, ²² adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. ²³ All these evils come from within, and they defile a person.”

²⁴ The Faith of a Gentile Woman.^[g] He moved on from that place to the region of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he was not able to avoid being recognized. ²⁵ Almost immediately, a woman whose daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard about him and hastened to fall down at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Gentile of Syrophoenician origin, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ Jesus said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸ She replied, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs under the table eat the scraps from the children.” ²⁹ Then Jesus said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰ And when she returned home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

³¹ Jesus Heals a Deaf Man.^[h] Returning from the region of Tyre, Jesus traveled by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, and into the region of the Decapolis. ³² Thereupon people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³ He took him aside, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue. ³⁴ Then, looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha!” which means, “Be opened!” ³⁵ At once, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he spoke properly.

³⁶ Then he ordered them not to tell anyone, but the more he ordered them not to do so, the more widely they proclaimed it. ³⁷ Their astonishment was beyond measure. “He has done all things well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf able to hear and the mute able to speak.”