Chronological
Jesus Challenges the Tradition of the Elders(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples disregard the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands when they eat.”[a]
3 But he answered them, “Why do you also disregard the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 Because God said,[b] ‘You are to honor your father and your mother,’[c] and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother must certainly be put to death.’[d] 5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or his mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me has been given to God,”[e] 6 does not have to honor his father.’[f] Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded[g] the authority of God’s word.[h] 7 You hypocrites! How well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said,
8 ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 Their worship of me is empty,
because they teach human rules as doctrines.’”[i]
10 Then calling out to the crowd, he addressed them, “Listen and understand! 11 It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.”
12 Then the disciples came and asked him, “Do you realize that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind.[j] If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”
15 Then Peter told him, “Explain to us this[k] parable.”
16 Jesus[l] said, “Are you still so ignorant? 17 Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is expelled as waste? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is those things that make a person unclean. 19 It is out of the heart that evil thoughts come, as well as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, stealing, false testimony, and slander.[m] 20 These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands doesn’t make a person unclean.”
A Canaanite Woman’s Faith(B)
21 Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Suddenly, a Canaanite woman from that territory came near and began to shout, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed!” 23 But he didn’t answer her at all.[n]
Then his disciples came up and kept urging him, “Send her away, because she keeps on screaming as she follows[o] us.”
24 But he replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation[p] of Israel.”
25 Then she came and fell down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
26 He replied, “It’s not right[q] to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
27 She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ tables.”
28 Then Jesus answered her, “Lady,[r] your faith is great! What you want is granted.” That very hour her daughter was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a hillside and sat down. 30 Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to talk, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed to see those who were unable to talk speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds More than Four Thousand People(C)
32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion for the crowd because they have already been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away without food, or they may faint on the road.”
33 The disciples asked him, “Where in the wilderness are we to get enough bread to feed such a crowd?”
34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 Ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks. Then he broke them in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them[s] to the crowds. 37 All of them ate until they were filled, then the disciples[t] picked up what was left of the broken pieces—seven baskets full. 38 Now those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After he sent the crowds away, he got into a boat and went to the region of Magadan.[u]
Jesus Challenges the Tradition of the Elders(A)
7 The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus.[a] 2 They noticed that some of his disciples were eating[b] with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (The Pharisees—and indeed all the Jewish people—don’t eat unless they wash their hands properly,[c] following the tradition of their elders. 4 They don’t eat anything from the marketplace unless they dip it in water. They also observe many other traditions, such as the proper washing of washing cups, jars, brass pots, and dinner tables.)[d] 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus,[e] “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat[f] with unclean hands.”
6 He told them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. As it is written,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship of me is worthless,
because they teach human rules as doctrines.’[g]
8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
9 Then he told them, “You have such a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your own tradition! 10 Because Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[h] and, ‘Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.’[i] 11 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me is Corban,”’ (that is, an offering to God) 12 ‘you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.’ 13 You are destroying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things like that.”
14 Then he called to the crowd again and told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand! 15 Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!”[j]
17 When he had left the crowd and gone home, his disciples began asking him about the parable. 18 He asked them, “Are you so ignorant? Don’t you know that nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean? 19 Because it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then into the sewer,[k] thereby expelling[l] all foods.” 20 Then he continued, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean, 21 because it’s from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come, as well as sexual immorality, stealing, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, slander,[m] arrogance, and foolishness. 23 All these things come from inside and make a person unclean.”
A Canaanite Woman’s Faith(B)
24 Jesus[n] left that place and went to the territory of Tyre and Sidon.[o] He went into a house, not wanting anyone to know he was there. However, it couldn’t be kept a secret. 25 In fact, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman happened to be a Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She kept asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 But he kept telling her, “First let the children be filled. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
28 But she answered him, “Yes,[p] Lord. Yet even the puppies under the table eat some of the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home and found her child lying in bed, and the demon was gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man with a Speech Impediment
31 Then Jesus[q] left the territory of Tyre and passed through Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the territory of the Decapolis.[r] 32 Some people[s] brought him a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. They begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 Jesus[t] took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. Putting his fingers into the man’s[u] ears, he touched the man’s[v] tongue with saliva.
34 Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and told him, “Ephphatha,”[w] that is, “Be opened!” 35 The man’s[x] hearing and speech were restored at once, and he began to talk normally. 36 Jesus[y] ordered the people[z] not to tell anyone, but the more he kept ordering them, the more they kept spreading the news.
37 Amazed beyond measure, they kept on saying, “He does everything well! He even makes deaf people hear and mute people talk!”
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