That Which Defiles
1Then
some
Pharisees
and
teachers
of the law
came to
Jesus from
Jerusalem
and asked,
2 “Why
do your
disciples
break the
tradition
of the
elders?
They don’t
wash their
hands
before
they eat!”
3 Jesus
replied,
“And why
do you
break the
command of
God for
the sake
of your
tradition?
4 For
God said,
‘Honor
your
father and
mother’
and
‘Anyone
who curses
their
father or
mother is
to be put
to death.’
5 But
you say
that if
anyone
declares
that what
might have
been used
to help
their
father or
mother is
‘devoted
to God,’
6 they
are not to
‘honor
their
father or
mother’
with it.
Thus you
nullify
the word
of God for
the sake
of your
tradition.
7 You
hypocrites!
Isaiah was
right when
he
prophesied
about you:
8 “‘These
people
honor me
with their
lips,
but
their
hearts are
far from
me.
9 They
worship me
in vain;
their
teachings
are merely
human
rules.’”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and
said,
“Listen and understand.
11 What
goes into
someone’s
mouth does
not defile
them, but
what comes
out of
their
mouth,
that is
what
defiles
them.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and
asked, “Do
you know
that the
Pharisees
were
offended
when they
heard
this?”
13 He replied,
“Every
plant that
my
heavenly
Father has
not
planted
will be
pulled up
by the
roots.
14 Leave
them; they
are blind
guides. If
the blind
lead the
blind,
both will
fall into
a pit.”
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to
us.”
16 “Are
you still
so dull?”
Jesus
asked
them.
17 “Don’t
you see
that
whatever
enters the
mouth goes
into the
stomach
and then
out of the
body?
18 But
the things
that come
out of a
person’s
mouth come
from the
heart, and
these
defile
them.
19 For
out of the
heart come
evil
thoughts—murder,
adultery,
sexual
immorality,
theft,
false
testimony,
slander.
20 These
are what
defile a
person;
but eating
with
unwashed
hands does
not defile
them.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to
the region
of Tyre
and Sidon.
22 A
Canaanite
woman from
that
vicinity
came to
him,
crying
out,
“Lord, Son
of David,
have mercy
on me! My
daughter
is
demon-possessed
and
suffering
terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his
disciples
came to
him and
urged him,
“Send her
away, for
she keeps
crying out
after us.”
24 He answered,
“I was
sent only
to the
lost sheep
of
Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him.
“Lord,
help me!”
she said.
26 He replied,
“It is not
right to
take the
children’s
bread and
toss it to
the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the
dogs eat
the crumbs
that fall
from their
master’s
table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her,
“Woman,
you have
great
faith!
Your
request is
granted.”
And her
daughter
was healed
at that
moment.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
29 Jesus left there and went along the
Sea of
Galilee.
Then he
went up on
a
mountainside
and sat
down.
30 Great
crowds
came to
him,
bringing
the lame,
the blind,
the
crippled,
the mute
and many
others,
and laid
them at
his feet;
and he
healed
them.
31 The
people
were
amazed
when they
saw the
mute
speaking,
the
crippled
made well,
the lame
walking
and the
blind
seeing.
And they
praised
the God of
Israel.
32 Jesus called his disciples to him and
said,
“I have compassion for these people;
they have
already
been with
me three
days and
have
nothing to
eat. I do
not want
to send
them away
hungry, or
they may
collapse
on the
way.”
33 His disciples answered, “Where could
we get
enough
bread in
this
remote
place to
feed such
a crowd?”
34 “How
many
loaves do
you have?”
Jesus
asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few
small
fish.”
35 He told the crowd to sit down on the
ground.
36 Then
he took
the seven
loaves and
the fish,
and when
he had
given
thanks, he
broke them
and gave
them to
the
disciples,
and they
in turn to
the
people.
37 They
all ate
and were
satisfied.
Afterward
the
disciples
picked up
seven
basketfuls
of broken
pieces
that were
left over.
38 The
number of
those who
ate was
four
thousand
men,
besides
women and
children.
39 After
Jesus had
sent the
crowd
away, he
got into
the boat
and went
to the
vicinity
of
Magadan.