MATTHEW Chapter 15 (GNB)
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Then some Pharisees and teachers of the Law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and
asked him,
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"Why is it that your disciples disobey the teaching handed down by our
ancestors? They don't wash their hands in the proper way before they eat!"
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Jesus answered, "And why do you disobey God's command and follow your own
teaching?
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For God said, 'Respect your father and your mother,' and 'If you curse your
father or your mother, you are to be put to death.'
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But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father
or mother, but say, 'This belongs to God,'
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they do not need to honor their father. In this way
you disregard God's command, in order to follow your own teaching.
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You hypocrites! How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you!
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'These people, says God, honor me with their words,
but their heart is really far away from me.
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It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though
they were my laws!' "
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Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and
understand!
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It is not what goes into your mouth that makes you ritually unclean; rather,
what comes out of it makes you unclean."
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Then the disciples came to him and said, "Do you know that the Pharisees
had their feelings hurt by what you said?"
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"Every plant which my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled
up," answered Jesus.
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"Don't worry about them! They are blind leaders of the blind; and when one
blind man leads another, both fall into a ditch."
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Peter spoke up, "Explain this saying to us."
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Jesus said to them, "You are still no more intelligent than the others.
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Don't you understand? Anything that goes into your mouth goes into your stomach
and then on out of your body.
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But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are
the things that make you ritually unclean.
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For from your heart come the evil ideas which lead you to kill, commit
adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander others.
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These are the things that make you unclean. But to eat without washing your
hands as they say you should---this doesn't make you unclean."
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Jesus left that place and went off to the territory near the cities of Tyre and
Sidon.
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A Canaanite woman who lived in that region came to him. "Son of
David!" she cried out. "Have mercy on me, sir! My daughter has a
demon and is in a terrible condition."
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But Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples came to him and begged him,
"Send her away! She is following us and making all this noise!"
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Then Jesus replied, "I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the people
of Israel."
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At this the woman came and fell at his feet. "Help me, sir!" she
said.
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Jesus answered, "It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it
to the dogs."
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"That's true, sir," she answered, "but even the dogs eat the
leftovers that fall from their masters' table."
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So Jesus answered her, "You are a woman of great faith! What you want will
be done for you." And at that very moment her daughter was healed.
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Jesus left there and went along by Lake Galilee. He climbed a hill and sat
down.
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Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled,
the dumb, and many other sick people, whom they placed at Jesus' feet; and he
healed them.
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The people were amazed as they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled made whole,
the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised the God of Israel.
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Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I feel sorry for these
people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to
eat. I don't want to send them away without feeding them, for they might faint
on their way home."
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The disciples asked him, "Where will we find enough food in this desert to
feed this crowd?"
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"How much bread do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven
loaves," they answered, "and a few small fish."
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So Jesus ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
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Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks to God, broke them, and
gave them to the disciples; and the disciples gave them to the people.
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They all ate and had enough. Then the disciples took up seven baskets full of
pieces left over.
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The number of men who ate was four thousand, not counting the women and
children.
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Then Jesus sent the people away, got into a boat, and went to the territory of Magadan.
CHAPTER ENDS