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15:1  Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said,
15:2  “Why do Your disciples violate the tradition (religious laws) handed down by the [Jewish] elders? For Your disciples do not [ceremonially] wash their hands before they eat.”
15:3  He replied to them, “Why also do you violate the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders]?
15:4  For God said [through Moses], ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of or insults or treats improperly father or mother is to be put to death.’
15:5  But you say, ‘If anyone says to his father or mother, “Whatever [money or resource that] I have that would help you is [already dedicated and] given to God,”
15:6  he is not to honor his father or his mother [by helping them with their need].’ So by this you have invalidated the word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect] for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders].
15:7  You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said,
15:8  ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.
15:9  ‘But in vain do they worship Me, For they teach as doctrines the precepts of men.’”
15:10  After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said, “Listen and understand this:
15:11  It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that defiles and dishonors him, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles and dishonors him.”
15:12  Then the disciples came and said to Jesus, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard you say this?”
15:13  He answered, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be torn up by the roots.
15:14  Leave them alone; they are blind guides [leading blind followers]. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
15:15  Peter asked Him, “Explain this parable [about what defiles a person] to us.”
15:16  And He said, “Are you still so dull [and unable to put things together]?
15:17  Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?
15:18  But whatever [word] comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles and dishonors the man.
15:19  For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming).
15:20  These are the things which defile and dishonor the man; but eating with [ceremonially] unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
15:21  After leaving there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
15:22  And a Canaanite woman from that district came out and began to cry out [urgently], saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David (Messiah); my daughter is cruelly possessed by a demon.”
15:23  But He did not say a word in answer to her. And His disciples came and asked Him [repeatedly], “Send her away, because she keeps shouting out after us.”
15:24  He answered, “I was commissioned by God and sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
15:25  But she came and began to kneel down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
15:26  And He replied, “It is not good (appropriate, fair) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the pet dogs.”
15:27  She said, “Yes, Lord; but even the pet dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters’ table.”
15:28  Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in My power] is great; it will be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.
15:29  Jesus went on from there and passed along by [the eastern shore of] the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on the hillside and was sitting there.
15:30  And great crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He healed them.
15:31  So the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised and glorified the God of Israel.
15:32  Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and have nothing [left] to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, because they might faint [from exhaustion] on the way [home].”
15:33  The disciples said to Him, “Where are we to get enough bread in this isolated place to feed so large a crowd?”
15:34  And Jesus asked them, “How many loaves [of bread] do you have?” They replied, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
15:35  He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground,
15:36  and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and when He had given thanks, He broke them and started giving 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 full baskets of the broken pieces that were left over.
15:38  [Among] those who ate were 4,000 men, not counting women and children.
15:39  Then Jesus sent the crowds away, got into the boat and went to the district of Magadan.