¹Then the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said, ²“Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” ³But he replied saying to them, “Why do you for your part transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? ⁴For God gave commandment, saying, ‘Honour your father and your mother’, and, ‘He who speaks ill of his father or mother must certainly die.’ ⁵But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, «That by which you might have been benefitted from me is a dedicatory gift», is acting correctly’, and he does not honour his father or his mother at all. ⁶So you invalidate the commandment of God by your tradition. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied well concerning you, saying, ¹⁰Then he called the crowd and said to them, “Listen to this and understand: ¹¹it is not that which goes into the mouth which defiles a man, but that which comes out of his mouth – that defiles a man.” ¹²Then his disciples came to him and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees take offence when they hear the word?” ¹³But he answered and said, “Every plant which my heavenly father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall in a pit.” ¹⁵Then Peter responded and said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” ¹⁶And Jesus said, “Are you too still lacking in understanding? ¹⁷Do you not yet understand that everything that goes into the mouth proceeds into the stomach and is discharged into the latrine? ¹⁸But the things which come out of the mouth come out of the heart, and those things defile a man. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. ²⁰These are the things which defile a man. But eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.” ²¹Then Jesus went out from there and withdrew to the districts of Tyre and Sidon, ²²and it so happened that a Canaanite woman from those territories came out and cried aloud to him saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely possessed by a demon.” ²³But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and appealed to him and said, “Send her away, because she is shouting after us.” ²⁴But he answered and said, “I have not been sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵But she came and worshipped him and said, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶But he answered and said, “It is not right to take the bread of the children and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷But she said, “Indeed, Lord. But even the dogs eat from the crumbs which fall from the table of their masters.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered and said to her, “Madam, great is your faith. Let it be to you as you wish.” And her daughter was cured from that hour. ²⁹Then Jesus moved on from there and went beside the sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, and he sat there, ³⁰and large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed and many others, and they laid them down at the feet of Jesus, and he cured them, ³¹so that the crowds were amazed, seeing the mute speaking, the maimed restored, the lame walking and the blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel. ³²Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I feel compassion for the crowd, because it has been three days already that they have stayed with me and have not had anything to eat. And I do not want to dismiss them fasting, in case they faint on the way.” ³³Then the disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough loaves to feed so large a crowd in such a desolate place?” ³⁴At this Jesus said to them, “How many loaves have you got?” Then they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵Then he ordered the crowds to recline on the ground, ³⁶and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and he gave thanks, and he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, while the disciples gave it to the crowd. ³⁷And they all ate and were filled, and they gathered up the excess pieces – seven hampers full. ³⁸Now those who ate were four thousand men, excluding women and children. ³⁹Then he dismissed the crowds and went on board the boat and went to the regions of Magdala.

Reference(s) in Chapter 15: v.4 ↔ Exodus 20:12, Exodus 21:17, Deuteronomy 5:16 ● v.8 ↔ Isaiah 29:13 ● v.9 ↔ Isaiah 29:13 ● v.31 ↔ Isaiah 35:5, Isaiah 35:6.