Matthew 15 (NMV)
1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,
2 "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat."
3 He answered them, "And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
4 For God said: 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.'
5 But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Whatever help you would have received from me has been given to God,"
6 does not need to honor his father or mother.' In this way you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
9 They worship Me in vain, teaching human rules as if they were divine commands.'"
10 Then He called the crowd to Him and said, "Listen and understand:
11 It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a person."
12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?"
13 He replied, "Every plant that My heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.
14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides leading the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit."
15 Then Peter said to Him, "Explain this parable to us."
16 Jesus said, "Are you still so dull in understanding?
17 Don't you see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is expelled?
18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles a person.
19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
20 These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them."
21 Jesus left there and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 A Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried to Him, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon."
23 But He did not answer her a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
24 He replied, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
25 But she came and knelt before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"
26 He answered, "It isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
28 Then Jesus replied to her, "Woman, your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that hour.
29 Moving on from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. He went up on a mountain and sat down there.
30 Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others. They laid them at His feet, and He healed them.
31 So the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called His disciples and said, "I have compassion for the crowd, because they've already stayed with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry, or they might collapse on the way."
33 The disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place to feed such a large crowd?"
34 "How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven," they said, "and a few small fish."
35 Then He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground.
36 He took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
37 They all ate and were satisfied. They collected the leftover pieces, seven large baskets full.
38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
39 After sending away the crowd, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.