MATTHEW 15
6. The Accusation
by the Traditional Religionists
6. The Accusation
by the Traditional Religionists
- Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying,
- Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.
- And He answered and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
- For God said, Honor your father and your mother, and, He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.
- But you say, Whoever says to his father or his mother, Whatever you would have been profited by me is now a gift to God,
- Shall by no means honor his father or his mother; and you have deprived the word of God of its authority because of your tradition.
- Hypocrites! Well has Isaiah prophesied concerning you, saying,
- This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart stays far away from Me;
- But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as teachings the commandments of men.
- And He called the crowd to Him and said to them, Hear and understand:
- It is not that which enters into the mouth that defiles the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.
- Then the disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were stumbled when they heard this word?
- And He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.
- Let them be. They are blind guides of the blind; and if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.
- And Peter answered and said to Him, Explain this parable to us.
- And He said, Are you also still without understanding?
- Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the drain?
- But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and those defile the man.
- For out of the heart come evil reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnessings, blasphemies.
- These are the things which defile the man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile the man.
- And Jesus went from there and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon.
- And behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders and cried out, saying, Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter suffers terribly from demon possession.
- But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us.
- But He answered and said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
- But she came and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, help me!
- But He answered and said, It is not good to take the childrens bread and throw it to the little dogs.
- And she said, Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table.
- Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you as you wish. And her daughter was healed from that hour.
- And Jesus departed from there and came beside the Sea of Galilee; and He went up to the mountain and sat there.
- And great crowds came to Him, having with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb, and many other sick ones; and they laid them at His feet, and He healed them,
- So that the crowd marveled, because they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled healthy and the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
- And Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I am moved with compassion for the crowd, because for three days now they have remained with Me and they do not have anything to eat. And I am not willing to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.
- And the disciples said to Him, Where can we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?
- And Jesus said to them, How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven, and a few small fish.
- And after He commanded the crowd to recline on the ground,
- He took the seven loaves and the fish, and giving thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.
- And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full.
- And those who ate were four thousand men, apart from women and children.
- And after He sent the crowds away, He stepped into the boat and came to the borders of Magadan.