God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions
aThen some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus bfrom Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ado not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘aHonor your father and mother,’ and, ‘bHe who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
8 ‘aThis people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
9 But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as adoctrines the commands of men.’”
10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11 aIt is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
12 Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “aEvery plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; athey are blind guides of the blind. And bif a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
The Heart of Man
15 Now Peter answered and said to Him, “aExplain the parable to us.” 16 And Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? 17 Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and goes into the sewer? 18 But athe things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 aFor out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20 These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
The Canaanite Woman
21 aAnd going away from there, Jesus withdrew into the district of bTyre and bSidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, aSon of David; my daughter is cruelly bdemon-possessed.” 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and were pleading with Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” 24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to athe lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and awas bowing down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, ayour faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.
Jesus Heals the Crowds
29 aAnd departing from there, Jesus went along by bthe Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30 And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and aHe healed them. 31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they aglorified the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
32 aAnd Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “bI feel compassion for the crowd, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34 And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and agiving thanks, He broke them and kept giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large abaskets full. 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into athe boat and came to the region of bMagadan.
The Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus
aAnd the bPharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him, they casked Him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But He replied to them, “aWhen it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ aDo you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? 4 aAn evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.
5 And coming to the other side of the sea, the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. 6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and abeware of the leaven of the bPharisees and Sadducees.” 7 Now they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “aYou men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand or remember athe five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? 10 Or athe seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? 11 How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But abeware of the leaven of the bPharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the aPharisees and Sadducees.
Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ
13 aNow when Jesus came into the district of bCaesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that cthe Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say aJohn the Baptist; and others, bElijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are athe Christ, bthe Son of cthe living God.” 17 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, aSimon Bar-Jonah, because bflesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are aPeter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of bHades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you athe keys of the kingdom of heaven; and bwhatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 aThen He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the bChrist.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
21 aFrom that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and bsuffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. 22 And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, aSatan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
Take Up Your Cross
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and atake up his cross and follow Me. 25 For awhoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the aSon of Man bis going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and cwill then repay each one according to his deeds.
28 “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the aSon of Man bcoming in His kingdom.”