bible_study/Bible/Matthew/Matt 15.md

## God's Commandments, Man's Traditions 

###### 1
Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 

###### 2
"Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do 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, 'Honor your father and mother,' and, 'He 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
'This people honors Me with their lips, **But their heart is far away from Me**. 

###### 9
But in vain do they worship Me, **Teaching as** doctrines the commands of men.'" 

###### 10
After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, **"Hear and understand.** 

###### 11
_It 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, **"Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.** 

###### 14
Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if 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, "Explain 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 the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 

###### 19
For 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
And going away from there, Jesus withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. 

###### 22
And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and _began to_ cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-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 the lost sheep of the house of Israel."** 

###### 25
But she came and was 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, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish."** And her daughter was healed at once. 

## Jesus Heals the Crowds 

###### 29
And departing from there, Jesus went along by the 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 He 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 glorified the God of Israel. 

## Jesus Feeds Four Thousand 

###### 32
And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, **"I 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 giving 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_ baskets full. 

###### 38
And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 

###### 39
And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.