Obey God’s Law^(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and ·teachers of the law [scribes] came to Jesus from Jerusalem. They asked him, ² “Why don’t your ·followers [disciples] obey the ·unwritten laws which have been handed down to us [^Ltraditions of the elders]? [^LFor] They don’t wash their hands before they eat [^Ca Jewish ritual for ceremonial purity].”

³ Jesus answered, “And why do you ·refuse to obey [break; violate] God’s command ·so that you can follow your own teachings [^Lfor the sake of your traditions]? ⁴ God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother [Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16],’ and ‘Anyone who ·says cruel things to [speaks evil of; curses] his father or mother must be put to death [Ex. 21:17; Lev. 20:9].’ ⁵ But you say a person can tell his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you, but I have ·given [dedicated; devoted] it to God already [^Ca practice known as Corban; see Mark 7:10–12].’ ⁶ You teach that person ·not to [that he need not] honor his father or his mother. You ·rejected [invalidated; canceled; nullified] ·what God said [^Lthe word of God] for the sake of your own ·rules [tradition]. ⁷ You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he ·said [^Lprophesied] about you:

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to him, he said, “Listen and ·understand what I am saying [try to understand]. ¹¹ It is not what ·people put into their mouths [^Lgoes into the mouth] that ·makes them unclean [pollutes/defiles the person]. It is what comes out of their mouths that ·makes them unclean [pollutes/defiles the person].”

¹² Then his ·followers [disciples] came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are ·angry [offended; shocked] because of what you said?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted himself will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ ·Stay away from the Pharisees [^LLeave/Ignore them]; they are blind ·leaders [guides].^[a] And if a blind person ·leads [guides] a blind person, both will fall into a ·ditch [pit; hole].”

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the ·example [parable] to us.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “·Do you still not understand [^LAre you still so dull/foolish]? ¹⁷ ·Surely you know [^LDon’t you know…?] that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then goes ·out of the body [^Linto the sewer/latrine].” ¹⁸ But ·what people say with their mouths [^Lthe things that come out of the mouth] comes from the ·way they think [^Lthe heart]; these are the things that ·make people unclean [pollute/defiled a person]. ¹⁹ [^LFor] Out of the ·mind [heart] come evil ·thoughts [intentions; ideas], murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, ·lying [false witness/testimony], and ·speaking evil of others [slander; blasphemy]. ²⁰ These things make people ·unclean [polluted; defiled]; eating with unwashed hands does not make them ·unclean [polluted; defiled].”

Jesus Helps a Gentile Woman^(B)

²¹ Jesus left that place and went to the ·area [district; region] of Tyre and Sidon [^Ccities on the coast north of Israel]. ²² A ·Canaanite [^Ca non-Jewish (Gentile) resident of Palestine (Canaan was the ancient name for Palestine)] woman from that area came to Jesus and cried out, “Lord, Son of David [^Ca title for the Messiah], have mercy on me! My daughter ·has a demon, and she is suffering very much [is tormented; ^Lis severely demon-possessed].”

²³ But Jesus did not ·answer the woman [^Lanswer her a word]. So his ·followers [disciples] came to Jesus and ·begged [asked; urged] him, “Tell the woman to go away. [^LBecause] She is following us and ·shouting [crying out].”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “·God sent me [^LI was sent] only to the lost sheep, the ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel.”

²⁵ Then the woman came to Jesus again and bowed before him and said, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and ·give [throw] it to the dogs.” [^C“Children” refers to Israel; “dogs” to the Gentiles.]

²⁷ The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus answered, “[^LO] Woman, you have great faith! ·I will do what you asked [^LLet it be done for you as you wish].” And ·at that moment [^Lfrom that hour] the woman’s daughter was healed.

Jesus Heals Many People^(C)

²⁹ After leaving there, Jesus went along ·the shore of Lake Galilee [^Tthe Sea of Galilee]. He went up on ·a hill [or the mountain] and sat there.

³⁰ Great crowds came to Jesus, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, ·those who could not speak [the mute/deaf; ^Cthe word can refer to speech or hearing; v. 31 suggests it here means “mute”], and many others. They ·put [laid] them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them. ³¹ The crowd was ·amazed [astonished; marveled] when they saw that ·people who could not speak before [the mute/deaf] were now able to speak. The crippled were ·made strong [well; whole]. The lame could walk, and the blind could see. And they ·praised [glorified] the God of Israel for this.

More than Four Thousand Fed^(D)

³² Jesus called his ·followers [disciples] to him and said, “I ·feel sorry [have compassion] for these people, because they have already been with me three days, and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might ·faint [collapse] while going home.”

³³ His ·followers [disciples] asked him, “·How [^LFrom where] can we get enough bread in this ·remote place [desolate place; desert] to feed ·all these people [^Lso great a crowd]?”

³⁴ Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”

They answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

³⁵ Jesus told the people to ·sit [recline] on the ground. ³⁶ He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God. Then he ·divided the food [^Lbroke them] and gave it to his ·followers [disciples], and they gave it to the people. ³⁷ All the people ate and were satisfied. Then his ·followers [disciples] filled seven ·baskets [large baskets; ^Ca different word than in the feeding of the five thousand; 14:20] with the leftover pieces of food. ³⁸ There were about four thousand men there who ate, besides women and children. ³⁹ After ·sending the people home [dismissing the crowds], Jesus got into the boat and went to the ·area [region] of Magadan [^Can unknown place, probably on the western shore of Lake Galilee; perhaps Magdala, the hometown of Mary Magdalene].