Thematic Bible

Matthew 15:1

Then some Scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,

Matthew 15:2

"Why do your disciples keep transgressing the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands before eating?"

Matthew 15:3

"And why do you also keep transgressing the command of God by your tradition?" he asked.

Matthew 15:4

"For God said, Honor your father and mother, and, Let him who reviles father or mother be put to death;

Matthew 15:5

but you say that whoever tells his father or mother, 'Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is dedicated to God,'

Matthew 15:6

is in no way bound to honor his father. Thus do you make void the word of God by your tradition!

Matthew 15:7

Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you, saying.

Matthew 15:8

This is a people that honors me with their lips, But their heart is far from me.

Matthew 15:9

In vain do they worship me, While they teach doctrines that are the commands of men."

Matthew 15:10

Then Jesus called the people to him and said:

Matthew 15:11

"Listen, and pay attention. It is not what goes into a man's mouth that defiles him, but what comes out of it, that defiles the man."

Matthew 15:12

Then his disciples came to him and said, "Do you know that the Pharisees were scandalized when they heard that saying?" He replied.

Matthew 15:13

"Any plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.

Matthew 15:14

"Let them alone. They are blind men leading the blind; and if one blind man leads another, both of them will fall into a ditch."

Matthew 15:15

Then Peter said to Jesus, "Explain the parable to us."

Matthew 15:16

He answered. "Are even you still without understanding?

Matthew 15:17

"Do you not know how all that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is afterward evacuated;

Matthew 15:18

while what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart??nd that is what defiles a man.

Matthew 15:19

For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, perjury, slander.

Matthew 15:20

These are the things that defile a man; to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

Matthew 15:21

Jesus then left that place, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon.

Matthew 15:22

Behold, there came to him a Canaanite woman of those parts. She wailed loudly, saying. "Pity me, Lord, thou Son of David! My daughter is possessed of an evil spirit."

Matthew 15:23

But he answered her not a word. Then the disciples came up and kept beseeching him. "Send her away," they said, "because she wails after us."

Matthew 15:24

In reply he said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Matthew 15:25

But the woman came and knelt to him and said, "Lord, do help me."

Matthew 15:26

He answered, "It is not seemly to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."

Matthew 15:27

"True, Lord," she said, "but even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."

Matthew 15:28

Then Jesus answered her. "O woman, great is your faith. It shall be for you even as you desire." And from that hour her daughter was healed.

Matthew 15:29

On leaving that place Jesus went along the shore of the Sea of Galilee; and after climbing a hill, took his seat there.

Matthew 15:30

Great crowds came to him, bringing the crippled, the blind, the maimed, the dumb, and many others. They laid them at his feet and he healed them;

Matthew 15:31

so that the crowd wondered when they saw the dumb speaking, the cripples walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

Matthew 15:32

But Jesus called his disciples to him and said: "My heart yearns over the crowd, for they have been with me now three days, and they have nothing to eat. I am not willing to send them away hungry, for fear they faint on the road."

Matthew 15:33

"In a lonely place like this," asked the disciple. "where can we get bread enough to satisfy such a crowd?"

Matthew 15:34

"How many loaves have you?" answered Jesus. They replied, "Seven, and a few small fish.

Matthew 15:35

So when he had summoned the crowd, and seated them upon the ground,

Matthew 15:36

he took the seven loaves and the fish, and gave thanks, then he broke them and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples to the crowd.

Matthew 15:37

And all ate and were satisfied, and of the fragments that remained they gathered seven large basketfuls.

Matthew 15:38

And those who ate numbered four thousand, besides the women and children.

Matthew 15:39

When he had sent the crowds away, he got into the boat and came into the region of Magadan.