Traditions and Commandments

1Then 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.”  3He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?  4For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’  5But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”  6he need not honor his father.’So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.  7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

8“‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

9in vain do they worship me,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

What Defiles a Person

10And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand:  11it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”  12Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”  13He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.  14Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”  15But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.”  16And he said, “Are you also still without understanding?  17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?  18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.  20These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

21And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.  22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”  23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”  24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  25But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”  26And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”  27She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”  28Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Jesus Heals Many

29Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there.  30And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them,  31so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

32Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”  33And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”  34And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”  35And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground,  36he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  37And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.  38Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  39And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.