Matthew 15 — Berean Standard Bible

¹ Then [some] Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem [and] asked, ² “Why {do} Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not 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 [his] father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say that if anyone says to [his] father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted [to God],’ ⁶ he need not honor his father or mother [with it]. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: ⁸ ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. ⁹ They worship Me in vain; they teach [as] doctrine [the] precepts of men.’ ¹⁰ [Jesus] called the crowd [to Him] [and] said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ A man is not defiled by what enters [his] mouth, but by what comes out of [it]. ¹² Then the disciples came to Him [and] said, “Are You aware that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this? ¹³ But [Jesus] replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots. ¹⁴ Disregard them! They are blind guides. If [a] blind [man] leads [a] blind [man], both will fall into a pit. ¹⁵ Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us. ¹⁶ “Do you still not understand? [Jesus] asked. ¹⁷ “Do you not yet realize that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then is eliminated? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, [and] slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile [him]. ²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came [to Him], crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter {is} miserably possessed by a demon. ²³ But [Jesus] did not answer a word. So His disciples came [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 [the] house of Israel. ²⁵ [The woman] came [and] knelt before Him. “Lord, help me! she said. ²⁶ But [Jesus] replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss [it] to the dogs. ²⁷ “Yes, Lord, she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. ²⁸ “O woman, Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed from that very hour. ²⁹ Moving on from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountain [and] sat down. ³⁰ Large 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 crowd was amazed when they saw [the] mute speaking, [the] crippled restored, [the] lame walking, and [the] blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. ³² Then Jesus called His disciples [to Him] [and] said, “I have compassion for [this] crowd, because 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 faint along the way. ³³ The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we [find] enough bread to feed such a large crowd? ³⁴ “How many loaves do you have? Jesus asked. “Seven, they replied, “and a few small fish. ³⁵ And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks [and] broke [them]. Then He gave [them] to [the] disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied, and [the disciples] picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ³⁸ A total of four thousand men were fed, besides women and children. ³⁹ After [Jesus] had dismissed the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.