Matthew:15
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Then some Scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem came to Jesus ,
saying ,
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Why do your disciples keep transgressing the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands before eating ?"
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And why do you also keep transgressing the command of God by your tradition ?"
he asked .
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For God said ,
Honor your father and mother ,
and ,
Let him who reviles father or mother be put to death ;
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but you say that whoever tells his father or mother ,
Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is dedicated to God ,
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is in no way bound to honor his father .
Thus do you make void the word of God by your tradition !
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Hypocrites !
Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you ,
saying .
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This is a people that honors me with their lips ,
But their heart is far from me .
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In vain do they worship me ,
While they teach doctrines that are the commands of men ."
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Then Jesus called the people to him and said .
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Listen ,
and pay attention .
It is not what goes into a mans mouth that defiles him ,
but what comes out of it ,
that defiles the man ."
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Then his disciples came to him and said , "
Do you know that the Pharisees were scandalized when they heard that saying ?"
He replied .
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Any plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted .
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Let them alone .
They are blind men leading the blind ;
and if one blind man leads another ,
both of them will fall into a ditch ."
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Then Peter said to Jesus , "
Explain the parable to us ."
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He answered . "
Are even you still without understanding ?
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Do you not know how all that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is afterward evacuated ;
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while what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart -
and that is what defiles a man .
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For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts ,
murder ,
adultery ,
unchastity ,
theft ,
perjury ,
slander .
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These are the things that defile a man ;
to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man ."
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Jesus then left that place ,
and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon .
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Behold ,
there came to him a Canaanite woman of those parts .
She wailed loudly ,
saying . "
Pity me ,
Lord ,
thou Son of David !
My daughter is possessed of an evil spirit ."
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But he answered her not a word .
Then the disciples came up and kept beseeching him . "
Send her away ,"
they said , "
because she wails after us ."
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In reply he said , "
I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel ."
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But the woman came and knelt to him and said , "
Lord ,
do help me ."
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He answered , "
It is not seemly to take the childrens bread and throw it to the little dogs ."
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True ,
Lord ,"
she said , "
but even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table ."
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Then Jesus answered her . "
O woman ,
great is your faith .
It shall be for you even as you desire ."
And from that hour her daughter was healed .
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On leaving that place Jesus went along the shore of the Sea of Galilee ;
and after climbing a hill ,
took his seat there .
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Great crowds came to him ,
bringing the crippled ,
the blind ,
the maimed ,
the dumb ,
and many others .
They laid them at his feet and he healed them ;
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so that the crowd wondered when they saw the dumb speaking ,
the cripples walking ,
and the blind seeing .
And they glorified the God of Israel .
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But Jesus called his disciples to him and said . "
My heart yearns over the crowd ,
for they have been with me now three days ,
and they have nothing to eat .
I am not willing to send them away hungry ,
for fear they faint on the road ."
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In a lonely place like this ,"
asked the disciple . "
where can we get bread enough to satisfy such a crowd ?"
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How many loaves have you ?"
answered Jesus .
They replied , "
Seven ,
and a few small fish .
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So when he had summoned the crowd ,
and seated them upon the ground ,
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he took the seven loaves and the fish ,
and gave thanks ,
then he broke them and gave them to his disciples ,
and the disciples to the crowd .
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And all ate and were satisfied ,
and of the fragments that remained they gathered seven large basketfuls .
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And those who ate numbered four thousand ,
besides the women and children .
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When he had sent the crowds away ,
he got into the boat and came into the region of Magadan .