1 Then gathered vnto him the Pharises, and certaine of the Scribes which came from Hierusalem. 2 And when they sawe some of his disciples eate meate with common hands, (that is to say, vnwashen) they complained. 3 (For the Pharises, and all the Iewes, except they wash their hands oft, eate not, holding the tradition of the Elders. 4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eate not: and many other things there be, which they haue taken vpon them to obserue, as the washing of cups, and pots, and of brasen vessels, and of beds.) 5 Then asked him the Pharises and Scribes, Why walke not thy disciples according to the tradition of the Elders, but eate meate with vnwashen hands? 6 Then hee answered and sayd vnto them, Surely Esay hath prophecied well of you, hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth mee with lippes, but their heart is farre away from me. 7 But they worship me in vaine, teaching for doctrines the commandements of men. 8 For ye lay the commandement of God apart, and obserue the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and of cups, and many other such like things ye doe. 9 And he sayd vnto them, Well, ye reiect the commandement of God, that ye may obserue your owne tradition. 10 For Moses sayd, Honour thy father and thy mother: and Whosoeuer shall speake euill of father or mother, let him die the death. 11 But yee say, If a man say to father or mother, Corban, that is, By the gift that is offered by mee, thou mayest haue profite, hee shall be free. 12 So ye suffer him no more to doe any thing for his father, or his mother, 13 Making the worde of God of none authoritie, by your tradition which ye haue ordeined: and ye doe many such like things. 14 Then he called the whole multitude vnto him, and sayd vnto them, Hearken you all vnto me, and vnderstand. 15 There is nothing without a man, that can defile him, when it entreth into him: but the things which proceede out of him, are they which defile the man. 16 If any haue eares to heare, let him heare. 17 And when hee came into an house, away from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. 18 And he sayde vnto them, What? are ye without vnderstanding also? Doe ye not knowe that whatsoeuer thing from without entreth into a man, cannot defile him, 19 Because it entreth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught which is the purging of all meates? 20 Then he sayd, That which commeth out of man, that defileth man. 21 For from within, euen out of the heart of men, proceede euill thoughtes, adulteries, fornications, murthers, 22 Theftes, couetousnes, wickednes, deceite, vncleannes, a wicked eye, backbiting, pride, foolishnesse. 23 All these euill things come from within, and defile a man. 24 And from thence he rose, and went into the borders of Tyrus and Sidon, and entred into an house, and woulde that no man should haue knowen: but he could not be hid. 25 For a certaine woman, whose litle daughter had an vncleane spirit, heard of him, and came, and fell at his feete, 26 (And the woman was a Greeke, a Syrophenissian by nation) and she besought him that he would cast out the deuill out of her daughter. 27 But Iesus saide vnto her, Let the children first be fedde: for it is not good to take the childrens bread, and to cast it vnto whelpes. 28 Then shee answered, and saide vnto him, Trueth, Lord: yet in deede the whelpes eate vnder the table of the childrens crommes. 29 Then he said vnto her, For this saying goe thy way: the deuil is gone out of thy daughter. 30 And when shee was come home to her house, shee founde the deuill departed, and her daughter lying on the bed. 31 And hee departed againe from the coastes of Tyrus and Sidon, and came vnto the sea of Galile, through the middes of the coastes of Decapolis. 32 And they brought vnto him one that was deafe and stambered in his speache, and prayed him to put his hand vpon him. 33 Then hee tooke him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers in his eares, and did spit, and touched his tongue. 34 And looking vp to heauen, hee sighed, and said vnto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 35 And straightway his eares were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and hee spake plaine. 36 And he commanded them, that they should tell no man: but howe much soeuer hee forbad them, the more a great deale they published it, 37 And were beyonde measure astonied, saying, Hee hath done all thinges well: he maketh both the deafe to heare, and the domme to speake.
The Teaching of the Ancestors
(Matthew 15.1-9)1 Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their food with hands that were ritually unclean—that is, they had not washed them in the way the Pharisees said people should.
( 3 For the Pharisees, as well as the rest of the Jews, follow the teaching they received from their ancestors: they do not eat unless they wash their hands in the proper way; 4 nor do they eat anything that comes from the market unless they wash it first. And they follow many other rules which they have received, such as the proper way to wash cups, pots, copper bowls, and beds. )
5 So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus, “Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?”
6 Jesus answered them, “How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! You are hypocrites, just as he wrote:
‘These people, says God, honor me with their words,
but their heart is really far away from me.
7 It is no use for them to worship me,
because they teach human rules
as though they were my laws!’
8 “You put aside God's command and obey human teachings.”
9 And Jesus continued, “You have a clever way of rejecting God's law in order to uphold your own teaching. 10 For Moses commanded, ‘Respect your father and your mother,’ and, ‘If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death.’ 11 But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father or mother, but say, ‘This is Corban’ (which means, it belongs to God), 12 they are excused from helping their father or mother. 13 In this way the teaching you pass on to others cancels out the word of God. And there are many other things like this that you do.”
The Things That Make a Person Unclean
(Matthew 15.10-20)14 Then Jesus called the crowd to him once more and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. 15 There is nothing that goes into you from the outside which can make you ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean.”
17 When he left the crowd and went into the house, his disciples asked him to explain this saying. 18 “You are no more intelligent than the others,” Jesus said to them. “Don't you understand? Nothing that goes into you from the outside can really make you unclean, 19 because it does not go into your heart but into your stomach and then goes on out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared that all foods are fit to be eaten.)
20 And he went on to say, “It is what comes out of you that makes you unclean. 21 For from the inside, from your heart, come the evil ideas which lead you to do immoral things, to rob, kill, 22 commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly— 23 all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean.”
A Woman's Faith
(Matthew 15.21-28)24 Then Jesus left and went away to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden. 25 A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.”
28 “Sir,” she answered, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!”
29 So Jesus said to her, “Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her.
Jesus Heals a Deaf-Mute
31 Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre and went on through Sidon to Lake Galilee, going by way of the territory of the Ten Towns. 32 Some people brought him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged Jesus to place his hands on him. 33 So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue. 34 Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan, and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up!”
35 At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble. 36 Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they told it. 37 And all who heard were completely amazed. “How well he does everything!” they exclaimed. “He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!”