Chapter 15

Then Scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem came to him, saying,

"Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they do not wash their hands when they take food."

But he answered and said to them, "And why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your traditions?

For God said, 'Honor thy father and thy mother'; and, 'Let him who curses father or mother be put to death. '

But you say, 'Whoever shall say to his father or mother, "Any support thou mightiest have had from me is dedicated to God, "

does not have to honor his father or his mother. ' So you have made void the commandment of God by your tradition.

Hypocrites, well did Isaias prophesy of you, saying,

'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;

And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine the precepts of men. '"

Then he called the crowd to him, and said to them, "Hear, and understand.

What goes into the mouth does not defile a man; but it is what comes out of his mouth that defiles a man."

Then his disciples came up and said to him, "Dost thou know that the Pharisees have taken offense at hearing this saying? "

But he answered and said, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

Let them alone; they are blind guides of blind men. But if a blind man guide a blind man, both fall into a pit."

But Peter spoke to him, saying, "Explain to us this parable."

And he said, "Are you also even yet without understanding?

Do you not realize that whatever enters the mouth passes into the belly and is cast out into the drain?

But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is they that defile a man.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, immorality, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

These are the things that defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." The Canaanite Woman

And leaving there, Jesus retired to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

And behold, a Canaanite woman came out of that territory and cried out to him, saying, "Have pity on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is sorely beset by a devil."

He answered her not a word. And his disciples came up and besought him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying after us."

But he answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

But she came and worshipped him, saying, "Lord, help me! "

He said in answer, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and to cast it to the dogs."

But she said, "Yes, Lord; for even the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their master's table."

Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is thy faith! Let it be done to thee as thou wilt." And her daughter was healed from that moment. Jesus Heals the Suffering

And when Jesus had departed from there, he went along the sea of Galilee; and he went up the mountain and sat there.

And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the dumb, the blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others; and they set them down at his feet, and he cured them;

so that the crowds marvelled to see the dumb speak, the lame walk, and the blind see. And they glorified the God of Israel. Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

Then Jesus called together his disciples and said, "I have compassion on the crowds, for they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away fasting, lest they faint on the way."

And the disciples said to him, "But in a desert, where are we to get enough loaves to satisfy so great a crowd? "

Jesus said to them, "How many loaves have you?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fishes."

And he bade the crowd recline on the ground.

Then taking the seven loaves and the fishes, he gave thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowd.

And they all ate and were satisfied; and they took up what was left of the fragments, seven full baskets.

Now those who had eaten were four thousand men, apart from children and women.

When he had dismissed the crowd, he got into the boat, and came into the district of Magedan.