Matthew 15 :: New International Version (NIV)

That Which Defiles

(Mar 7:1–23 )

Mat 15:1

Mat 15:1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,

Mat 15:2

Mat 15:2“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

Mat 15:3

Mat 15:3Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

Mat 15:4

Mat 15:4For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[fn] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[fn]

Mat 15:5

Mat 15:5But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’

Mat 15:6

Mat 15:6they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

Mat 15:7

Mat 15:7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

Mat 15:8

Mat 15:8“ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Mat 15:9

Mat 15:9They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’[fn]”

Mat 15:10

Mat 15:10Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand.

Mat 15:11

Mat 15:11What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

Mat 15:12

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

Mat 15:13

Mat 15:13He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.

Mat 15:14

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

Mat 15:15

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

Mat 15:16

Mat 15:16“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them.

Mat 15:17

Mat 15:17“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body?

Mat 15:18

Mat 15:18But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.

Mat 15:19

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

Mat 15:20

Mat 15:20These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

(Mar 7:24–30 )

Mat 15:21

Mat 15:21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

Mat 15:22

Mat 15:22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

Mat 15:23

Mat 15:23Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

Mat 15:24

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

Mat 15:25

Mat 15:25The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

Mat 15:26

Mat 15:26He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

Mat 15:27

Mat 15:27“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

Mat 15:28

Mat 15:28Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

(Mar 7:31–37 )

Mat 15:29

Mat 15:29Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down.

Mat 15:30

Mat 15:30Great 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.

Mat 15:31

Mat 15:31The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

(Mar 8:1–10 )

Mat 15:32

Mat 15:32Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; 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 collapse on the way.”

Mat 15:33

Mat 15:33His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

Mat 15:34

Mat 15:34“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

Mat 15:35

Mat 15:35He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.

Mat 15:36

Mat 15:36Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.

Mat 15:37

Mat 15:37They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Mat 15:38

Mat 15:38The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children.

Mat 15:39

Mat 15:39After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.