Matthew 15

₁Some Pharisees and teachers_of_the_Laws came from Jerusalem to Jesus and they asked Him: ₂‘Why don't your disciples do what the laws of our forefathers say? Your disciples do not wash their hands before they eat.’

₃Jesus said to them: ‘Why don't you do what God said? You keep on doing what people say. ₄God said: “You must respect your parents.” He said: “If someone curses his father or his mother, then he must die, that is sure.” ₅But you say anyone can say to his father or mother: “I can not help you, because the money that I wanted to give you I have given to the Lord.” ₆A person who does that does not respect his father and mother. You never do what God tells you. You do only what your forefathers told you. ₇You are hypocrites. It is true what the prophet Isaiah said about you. He said:

₁₀Jesus called the people to Him and He told them: ‘You must listen and understand what I say. ₁₁It is not the food that a person puts into his mouth that can make him impure. A person becomes impure from the things that come out of his mouth, such as the bad things that he says.’

₁₂Then the disciples came to Jesus and said to Him: ‘Do You know that the Pharisees were very angry when they heard what You said?’ ₁₃Jesus said to them: ‘My Father in heaven will pull out every plant that He did not plant. ₁₄Do not listen to what the Pharisees say. They are like blind people who want to lead other blind people and show them where they must go. When a blind person leads another blind person, then both of them will fall into a hole.’

₁₅Peter said to Jesus: ‘Please explain to us what this parable means.’ ₁₆Jesus said to him: ‘You are my disciples. Don't you understand it? ₁₇You know that the food in your mouth goes to your stomach and then out of your body. ₁₈But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. These are the things which can make you impure. ₁₉The bad things that a man thinks come from his inside, from in his heart. These are the bad things that people think about, that make them sin, like killing people, adultery, immoral sex, stealing, lying or saying bad things about other people. ₂₀Those are the things that make a person impure. But if you don't wash your hands before you eat, that can not make you impure.’

₂₁Jesus went to places near the towns of Tyre and Sidon. ₂₂A Canaanite woman from that town came and she kept shouting and she said: ‘Lord, Son of David, please feel sorry for me and help me. There is a demon in my daughter and she suffers a lot.’ ₂₃But Jesus did not answer the woman. His disciples came to Him and they said to Jesus: ‘Tell the woman to go away. She keeps on shouting.’

₂₄Then Jesus said to her: ‘God sent Me to the Israelites only. They are like his lost sheep.’ ₂₅But the woman came to Jesus and knelt before Him and said: ‘Lord, please help me.’ ₂₆Jesus said to her: ‘The Jews are the children of God. It is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs.’ ₂₇The woman said to Jesus: ‘That is true, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs of bread that fall down from the tables of their owners.’ ₂₈Jesus said to her: ‘Woman, your faith is strong. What you want will happen.’

And the Lord healed the woman's daughter immediately.

₂₉Jesus went away and He came to Lake Galilee. He went up to the mountain and He sat down. ₃₀A lot of people came to Him. They brought people who were blind and people who could not walk or hear or talk and they also brought many other sick people to Him. They put them in front of Jesus and He healed them all. ₃₁The people were amazed when they saw that the people who had been deaf and mute could hear and talk. The people who could not walk or see were also healed. And they all praised the God of Israel.

₃₂Jesus called his disciples to Him and He said to them: ‘I feel sorry for these people because they have been with Me for 3 days and they have no food. If I tell them to go home now and they are hungry, they will faint and fall down before they get home.’

₃₃The disciples asked Jesus: ‘Where can we get enough bread for all of these people? We are far from a town, and no one lives here.’ ₃₄Jesus asked them: ‘How much bread do you have?’ They said to Him: ‘We have 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish.’

₃₅Jesus told all the people to sit on the ground to eat. ₃₆Then Jesus took the 7 loaves of bread and the fish and He thanked God for them. Then He broke the bread into pieces and He gave it to his disciples and they gave it to the people. ₃₇All the people had enough food to eat. His disciples picked up the food that the people had not eaten. There were 7 big baskets full. ₃₈There were 4 000 men who had eaten and there were also women and children. ₃₉After Jesus had told all the people to go home, He and his disciples got into a boat and they went over the lake to the other side, near the town of Magadan.