Matthew 15 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Traditions and Commandments

(Mar 7:1–23 )

Mat 15:1

Mat 15:1Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,

Mat 15:2

Mat 15:2“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”

Mat 15:3

Mat 15:3He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

Mat 15:4

Mat 15:4For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’

Mat 15:5

Mat 15:5But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”[fn]

Mat 15:6

Mat 15:6he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word[fn] of God.

Mat 15:7

Mat 15:7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

Mat 15:8

Mat 15:8“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;

Mat 15:9

Mat 15:9in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

What Defiles a Person

Mat 15:10

Mat 15:10And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand:

Mat 15:11

Mat 15:11it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

Mat 15:12

Mat 15:12Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

Mat 15:13

Mat 15:13He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

Mat 15:14

Mat 15:14Let them alone; they are blind guides.[fn] And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Mat 15:15

Mat 15:15But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.”

Mat 15:16

Mat 15:16And he said, “Are you also still without understanding?

Mat 15:17

Mat 15:17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?[fn]

Mat 15:18

Mat 15:18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

Mat 15:19

Mat 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Mat 15:20

Mat 15:20These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

(Mar 7:24–30 )

Mat 15:21

Mat 15:21And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

Mat 15:22

Mat 15:22And 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.”

Mat 15:23

Mat 15:23But 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.”

Mat 15:24

Mat 15:24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Mat 15:25

Mat 15:25But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

Mat 15:26

Mat 15:26And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

Mat 15:27

Mat 15:27She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

Mat 15:28

Mat 15:28Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.[fn]

Jesus Heals Many

(Mar 7:31–37 )

Mat 15:29

Mat 15:29Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there.

Mat 15:30

Mat 15:30And 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,

Mat 15:31

Mat 15:31so 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

(Mar 8:1–10 )

Mat 15:32

Mat 15:32Then 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.”

Mat 15:33

Mat 15:33And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”

Mat 15:34

Mat 15:34And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

Mat 15:35

Mat 15:35And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground,

Mat 15:36

Mat 15:36he 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.

Mat 15:37

Mat 15:37And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

Mat 15:38

Mat 15:38Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

Mat 15:39

Mat 15:39And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(15:5)

Or is an offering

(15:6)

Some manuscripts law

(15:14)

Some manuscripts add of the blind

(15:17)

Greek is expelled into the latrine

(15:28)

Greek from that hour

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

Matthew Chapter 15 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Morphological Greek New Testament Textus Receptus Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras