Matthew 15

1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked:

2Why do Your disciples break the teaching of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.

3Jesus answered: And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your own teaching?

4For God said: Honor your father and mother. And: Anyone who curses a father or mother must be put to death.

5But you say that a person may tell that person's father or mother: Whatever help you might have received from me is now a gift given to God.

6In that way that person does not have to honor a father or mother. So you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own teaching.

7You pretenders! Isaiah was right when he spoke about you:

8These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me.

9Their worship of me means nothing. They teach human rules as if they were God's commands.

10Jesus called the crowd to Him and said: Listen and understand.

11It 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.

12Then the disciples came to Him and said: Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?

13Jesus answered: Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.

14Leave them alone. They are blind guides. And if a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a pit.

15Peter said: Explain this teaching story to us.

16Jesus asked: Do you still not understand?

17Don't you see that whatever goes into the mouth goes into the stomach and then passes out of the body?

18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a person unclean.

19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sin, stealing, lying, and insulting God.

20These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands does not make a person unclean.

21Then Jesus left that place and went away to the area of Tyre and Sidon.

22A woman from Canaan who lived in that area came to Him, crying out: Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from a demon.

23Jesus did not answer her a word. So His disciples came and begged Him: Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.

24Jesus answered: I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.

25But the woman came and knelt before Him. She said: Lord, help me!

26Jesus replied: It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

27She said: Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.

28Then Jesus answered her: Woman, your faith is great! What you want will be done for you. And her daughter was healed at that very hour.

29Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountain and sat down.

30Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, those who could not speak, the crippled, and many others. They laid them at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.

31The people were amazed when they saw those who could not speak now speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

32Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said: I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint on the way.

33His disciples answered: Where could we get enough bread in this lonely place to feed such a large crowd?

34Jesus asked: How many loaves do you have? They answered: Seven, and a few small fish.

35Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground.

36Then Jesus took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

37They all ate and were full. Afterward the disciples picked up seven large provision hampers of leftover pieces.

38Four thousand men ate, besides women and children.

39After Jesus had sent the crowd away, He got into the boat and went to the area of Magadan.