15:1 THEN FROM Jerusalem came scribes and Pharisees and said, |
15:2 Why do Your disciples transgress {and} violate the rules handed down by the elders of the past? For they do not practice [ceremonially] washing their hands before they eat. |
15:3 He replied to them, And why also do you transgress {and} violate the commandment of God for the sake of the rules handed down to you by your forefathers (the elders)? |
15:4 For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother, and, He who curses {or} reviles {or} speaks evil of {or} abuses {or} treats improperly his father or mother, let him surely come to his end by death. |
15:5 But you say, If anyone tells his father or mother, What you would have gained from me [that is, the money and whatever I have that might be used for helping you] is already dedicated as a gift to God, then he is exempt {and} no longer under obligation to honor {and} help his father {or his mother.} |
15:6 So for the sake of your tradition (the rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect]. |
15:7 You pretenders (hypocrites)! Admirably {and} truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said: |
15:8 These people {draw near Me with their mouths and} honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off {and} are far away from Me. |
15:9 Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men. |
15:10 And Jesus called the people to Him and said to them, Listen and grasp {and} comprehend this: |
15:11 It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean {and} defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean {and} defiles [him]. |
15:12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were displeased {and} offended {and} indignant when they heard this saying? |
15:13 He answered, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be torn up by the roots. |
15:14 Let them alone {and} disregard them; they are blind guides {and} teachers. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a ditch. |
15:15 But Peter said to Him, Explain this proverb (this maxim) to us. |
15:16 And He said, Are you also even yet dull {and} ignorant [without understanding and unable to put things together]? |
15:17 Do you not see {and} understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the abdomen and so passes on into the place where discharges are deposited? |
15:18 But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what makes a man unclean {and} defiles [him]. |
15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts (reasonings and disputings and designs) such as murder, adultery, sexual vice, theft, false witnessing, slander, {and} irreverent speech. |
15:20 These are what make a man unclean {and} defile [him]; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean {or} defile [him]. |
15:21 And going away from there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. |
15:22 And behold, a woman who was a Canaanite from that district came out and, with a [loud, troublesomely urgent] cry, begged, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is miserably {and} distressingly {and} cruelly possessed by a demon! |
15:23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us. |
15:24 He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. |
15:25 But she came and, kneeling, worshiped Him and kept praying, Lord, help me! |
15:26 And He answered, It is not right (proper, becoming, or fair) to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. |
15:27 She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little pups (little whelps) eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters' table. |
15:28 Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you wish. And her daughter was cured from that moment. |
15:29 And Jesus went on from there and passed along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up into the hills and kept sitting there. |
15:30 And a great multitude came to Him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He cured them, |
15:31 So that the crowd was amazed when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they recognized {and} praised {and} thanked {and} glorified the God of Israel. |
15:32 Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I have pity {and} sympathy {and} am deeply moved for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and they have nothing [at all left] to eat; and I am not willing to send them away hungry, lest they faint {or} become exhausted on the way. |
15:33 And the disciples said to Him, Where are we to get bread sufficient to feed so great a crowd in this isolated {and} desert place? |
15:34 And Jesus asked them, How many loaves of bread do you have? They replied, Seven, and a few small fish. |
15:35 And ordering the crowd to recline on the ground, |
15:36 He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when He had given thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. |
15:37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they gathered up seven [large provision] baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over. |
15:38 Those who ate were 4,000 men, not including the women and the children. |
15:39 Then He dismissed the crowds, got into the boat, and went to the district of Magadan. |