Matthew 15
15
What Makes People “Unclean”?
1Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked, 2“Why don’t your disciples obey what the elders teach? Your disciples don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3Jesus replied, “And why don’t you obey God’s command? You would rather follow your own teachings! 4God said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’ (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16) He also said, ‘Anyone who asks for bad things to happen to their father or mother must be put to death.’ (Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9) 5But suppose people have something that might be used to help their parents. You allow them to say it is instead ‘a gift set apart for God.’ 6So they do not need to honor their father or mother with their gift. You make the word of God useless in order to follow your own teachings. 7You pretenders! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. He said,
8“ ‘These people honor me by what they say.
But their hearts are far away from me.
9Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me.
They teach nothing but human rules.’ ” (Isaiah 29:13)
10Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, “Listen and understand. 11What goes into someone’s mouth does not make them ‘unclean.’ It’s what comes out of their mouth that makes them ‘unclean.’ ”
12Then the disciples came to him. They asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were angry when they heard this?”
13Jesus replied, “They are plants that my Father in heaven has not planted. They will be pulled up by the roots. 14Leave the Pharisees. They are blind guides. If one blind person leads another blind person, both of them will fall into a pit.”
15Peter said, “Explain this to us.”
16“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked them. 17“Don’t you see? Everything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body. 18But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart. Those are the things that make someone ‘unclean.’ 19Evil thoughts come out of a person’s heart. So do murder, adultery, and other sexual sins. And so do stealing, false witness, and telling lies about others. 20Those are the things that make you ‘unclean.’ But eating without washing your hands does not make you ‘unclean.’ ”
The Faith of a Woman From Canaan
21Jesus left Galilee and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22A woman from Canaan lived near Tyre and Sidon. She came to him and cried out, “Lord! Son of David! Have mercy on me! A demon controls my daughter. She is suffering terribly.”
23Jesus did not say a word. So his disciples came to him. They begged him, “Send her away. She keeps crying out after us.”
24Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep.”
25Then the woman fell to her knees in front of him. “Lord! Help me!” she said.
26He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
27“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.”
28Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! You will be given what you are asking for.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
29Jesus left there. He walked along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Large crowds came to him. They brought blind people and those who could not walk. They also brought disabled people, those who could not speak, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31The people were amazed. Those who could not speak were speaking. The disabled were made well. Those not able to walk were walking. Those who were blind could see. So the people praised the God of Israel.
32Then Jesus called for his disciples to come to him. He said, “I feel deep concern for these people. They have already been with me three days. They don’t have anything to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. If I do, they will become too weak on their way home.”
33His disciples answered him. “There is nothing here,” they said. “Where could we get enough bread to feed this large crowd?”
34“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks. Then he broke them and gave them to the disciples. And the disciples passed them out to the people. 37All of them ate and were satisfied. After that, the disciples picked up seven baskets of leftover pieces. 38The number of men who ate was 4,000. Women and children also ate. 39After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat. He went to the area near Magadan.
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Matthew 15: NIrV
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Mattityahu (Mat) 15
15
1Then some P’rushim and Torah-teachers from Yerushalayim came to Yeshua and asked him, 2“Why is it that your talmidim break the Tradition of the Elders? They don’t do n’tilat-yadayim before they eat!” 3He answered, “Indeed, why do you break the command of God by your tradition? 4For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ 5But you say, ‘If anyone says to his father or mother, “I have promised to give to God what I might have used to help you,” 6then he is rid of his duty to honor his father or mother.’ Thus by your tradition you make null and void the word of God! 7You hypocrites! Yesha‘yahu was right when he prophesied about you,
8‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far away from me.
9Their worship of me is useless,
because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.’”
10Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand this! 11What makes a person unclean is not what goes into his mouth; rather, what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean!”
12The talmidim came to him and said, “Do you know that the P’rushim were offended by what you said?” 13He replied, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14Let them be. They are blind guides. When a blind man guides another blind man, both will fall in a pit.”
15Kefa said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16So he said, “Don’t you understand even now? 17Don’t you see that anything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach and passes out into the latrine? 18But what comes out of your mouth is actually coming from your heart, and that is what makes a person unclean. 19For out of the heart come forth wicked thoughts, murder, adultery and other kinds of sexual immorality, theft, lies, slanders. . . . 20These are what really make a person unclean, but eating without doing n’tilat-yadayim does not make a person unclean.”
21Yeshua left that place and went off to the region of Tzor and Tzidon. 22A woman from Kena‘an who was living there came to him, pleading, “Sir, have pity on me. Son of David! My daughter is cruelly held under the power of demons!” 23But Yeshua did not say a word to her. Then his talmidim came to him and urged him, “Send her away, because she is following us and keeps pestering us with her crying.” 24He said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Isra’el.” 25But she came, fell at his feet and said, “Sir, help me!” 26He answered, “It is not right to take the children’s food and toss it to their pet dogs.” 27She said, “That is true, sir, but even the dogs eat the leftovers that fall from their master’s table.” 28Then Yeshua answered her, “Lady, you are a person of great trust. Let your desire be granted.” And her daughter was healed at that very moment.
29Yeshua left there and went along the shore of Lake Kinneret. He climbed a hill and sat down; 30and large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31The people were amazed as they saw mute people speaking, crippled people cured, lame people walking and blind people seeing; and they said a b’rakhah to the God of Isra’el.
32Yeshua called his talmidim to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, because they might collapse on the way home.” 33The talmidim said to him, “Where will we find enough loaves of bread in this remote place to satisfy so big a crowd?” 34Yeshua asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few fish.” 35After telling the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36he took the seven loaves and the fish, made a b’rakhah, broke the loaves and gave them to the talmidim, who gave them to the people. 37Everyone ate his fill, and they took seven large baskets full of the leftover pieces. 38Those eating numbered four thousand men, plus women and children. 39After sending the crowd away, he got in the boat and went off to the region of Magadan.
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