God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions

1Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO [†]BE PUT TO DEATH.’ 5But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me [†]is given to God,” 6he need not [†]honor his father.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

8‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,

BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

9BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,

TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDS OF MEN.’”

10After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

12Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were [†]offended when they heard this statement?” 13But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14Let them alone; they are blind guides [†]of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

15Now Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16And [†]Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? 17Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and goes into the sewer? 18But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

The Canaanite Woman

21And going away from there, Jesus withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” 23But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and were pleading with Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting [†]at us.” 24But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and [†]was bowing down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26And He answered and said, “It is not [†]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27But she said, “Yes, Lord; [†]but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed [†]at once.

Jesus Heals the Crowds

29And departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30And [†]large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. 31So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled [†]restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

32And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the crowd, because they [†]have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33And the disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35And He directed the crowd to [†]sit down on the ground; 36and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and kept giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. 38And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.