Matthew 15

Christian Standard Bible

The Tradition of the Elders

15 Then^(A) Jesus was approached by Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, who asked,^{(B) 2} “Why do your disciples^(C) break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”^[a](D)

³ He answered them, “Why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? ⁴ For God said:^[b] Honor your father and your mother;^[c](E) and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.^{[d](F) 5} But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple,” ⁶ he does not have to honor his father.’^[e] In this way, you have nullified the word of God^[f] because of your tradition. ⁷ Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:

Defilement Is from Within

¹⁰ Summoning the crowd, he told them, “Listen and understand: ¹¹ It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles^(H) a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.”^(I)

¹² Then the disciples came up and told him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”

¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted.^{(J) 14} Leave them alone! They are blind guides.^[i] And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”^(K)

¹⁵ Then Peter said, “Explain this parable to us.”^(L)

¹⁶ “Do you still lack understanding?” he^[j] asked. ¹⁷ “Don’t you realize^[k] that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated?^{[l] 18} But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person.^{(M) 19} For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies,^(N) slander.^{(O) 20} These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”^(P)

A Gentile Mother’s Faith

²¹ When Jesus left there,^(Q) he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon.^{(R) 22} Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out,^[m] “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”^(S)

²³ Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples^(T) approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”

²⁴ He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”^(U)

²⁵ But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶ He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”^(V)

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment^[n] her daughter was healed.^(W)

Healing Many People

²⁹ Moving on from there,^(X) Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee.^(Y) He went up on a mountain and sat there, ³⁰ and large crowds came to him, including the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he healed them. ³¹ So the crowd was amazed when they saw those unable to speak talking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing,^(Z) and they gave glory to the God of Israel.

Feeding of the Four Thousand

³² Jesus called his disciples and said,^(AA) “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, otherwise they might collapse on the way.”

³³ The disciples said to him, “Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place^(AB) to feed such a crowd?”

³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked them.

“Seven,” they said, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵ After commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶ he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.^{(AC) 37} They all ate and were satisfied. They collected the leftover pieces—seven large baskets full. ³⁸ Now there were four thousand men who had eaten, besides women and children. ³⁹ After dismissing the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.^[o](AD)