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Tradition and Commandment

^1 (C1)Then some Pharisees and scribes ^(*)came to Jesus ^(C2)from Jerusalem and said,² "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ^(C1)do not wash their hands when they eat bread."³ And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?⁴ "For God said, '^(C1)HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,' and, '^(C2)HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO ^(F1)BE PUT TO DEATH.'⁵ "But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been ^(F1)given to God,"⁶ he is not to honor his father or his mother^(F1).' And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.⁷ "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

⁸ '^(C1)THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

⁹ 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS ^(C1)DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand.¹¹ "^(C1)It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."

¹² Then the disciples ^(*)came and ^(*)said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were ^(F1)offended when they heard this statement?"¹³ But He answered and said, "^(C1)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.¹⁴ "Let them alone; ^(C1)they are blind guides ^(F1)of the blind. And ^(C2)if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

The Heart of Man

¹⁵ Peter ^(F1)said to Him, "^(C1)Explain the parable to us."^16 (F1)Jesus said, "Are you still lacking in understanding also?¹⁷ "Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is ^(F1)eliminated?¹⁸ "But ^(C1)the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.¹⁹ "^(C1)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, ^(F1)fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.²⁰ "These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."

The Syrophoenician Woman

^21 (C1)Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of ^(C2)Tyre and ^(C2)Sidon.²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, ^(C1)Son of David; my daughter is cruelly ^(C2)demon-possessed."²³ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting ^(F1)at us."²⁴ But He answered and said, "I was sent only to ^(C1)the lost sheep of the house of Israel."²⁵ But she came and ^(C1)began ^(F1)to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"²⁶ And He answered and said, "It is not ^(F1)good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."²⁷ But she said, "Yes, Lord; ^(F1)but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, ^(C1)your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed ^(F1)at once.

Healing Crowds

^29 (C1)Departing from there, Jesus went along by ^(C2)the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there.³⁰ And ^(F1)large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and ^(C1)He healed them.³¹ So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled ^(F1)restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they ^(C1)glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Fed

^32 (C1)And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "^(C2)I feel compassion for the ^(F1)people, because they ^(F2)have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way."³³ The disciples ^(*)said to Him, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?"³⁴ And Jesus ^(*)said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few small fish."³⁵ And He directed the ^(F1)people to ^(F2)sit down on the ground;³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and ^(C1)giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large ^(C1)baskets full.³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹ And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into ^(C1)the boat and came to the region of ^(C2)Magadan.