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Matthew 15
Expanded Bible
Matthew 15
Expanded Bible
Obey God’s Law(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and ·teachers of the law [scribes] came to Jesus from Jerusalem. They asked him, 2 “Why don’t your ·followers [disciples] obey the ·unwritten laws which have been handed down to us [L traditions of the elders]? [L For] They don’t wash their hands before they eat [C a Jewish ritual for ceremonial purity].”
3 Jesus answered, “And why do you ·refuse to obey [break; violate] God’s command ·so that you can follow your own teachings [L for the sake of your traditions]? 4 God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother [Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16],’ and ‘Anyone who ·says cruel things to [speaks evil of; curses] his father or mother must be put to death [Ex. 21:17; Lev. 20:9].’ 5 But you say a person can tell his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you, but I have ·given [dedicated; devoted] it to God already [C a practice known as Corban; see Mark 7:10–12].’ 6 You teach that person ·not to [that he need not] honor his father or his mother. You ·rejected [invalidated; canceled; nullified] ·what God said [L the word of God] for the sake of your own ·rules [tradition]. 7 You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he ·said [L prophesied] about you:
8 ‘These people show honor to me with ·words [L their lips],
but their hearts are far from me.
9 Their worship of me is ·worthless [futile; in vain].
The things [doctrines] they teach are nothing but human ·rules [commandments; Is. 29:13].’”
10 After Jesus called the crowd to him, he said, “Listen and ·understand what I am saying [try to understand]. 11 It is not what ·people put into their mouths [L goes into the mouth] that ·makes them unclean [pollutes/defiles the person]. It is what comes out of their mouths that ·makes them unclean [pollutes/defiles the person].”
12 Then his ·followers [disciples] came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are ·angry [offended; shocked] because of what you said?”
13 Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted himself will be pulled up by the roots. 14 ·Stay away from the Pharisees [L Leave/Ignore them]; they are blind ·leaders [guides].[a] And if a blind person ·leads [guides] a blind person, both will fall into a ·ditch [pit; hole].”
15 Peter said, “Explain the ·example [parable] to us.”
16 Jesus said, “·Do you still not understand [L Are you still so dull/foolish]? 17 ·Surely you know [L Don’t you know…?] that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then goes ·out of the body [L into the sewer/latrine].” 18 But ·what people say with their mouths [L the things that come out of the mouth] comes from the ·way they think [L the heart]; these are the things that ·make people unclean [pollute/defiled a person]. 19 [L For] Out of the ·mind [heart] come evil ·thoughts [intentions; ideas], murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, ·lying [false witness/testimony], and ·speaking evil of others [slander; blasphemy]. 20 These things make people ·unclean [polluted; defiled]; eating with unwashed hands does not make them ·unclean [polluted; defiled].”
Jesus Helps a Gentile Woman(B)
21 Jesus left that place and went to the ·area [district; region] of Tyre and Sidon [C cities on the coast north of Israel]. 22 A ·Canaanite [C a non-Jewish (Gentile) resident of Palestine (Canaan was the ancient name for Palestine)] woman from that area came to Jesus and cried out, “Lord, Son of David [C a title for the Messiah], have mercy on me! My daughter ·has a demon, and she is suffering very much [is tormented; L is severely demon-possessed].”
23 But Jesus did not ·answer the woman [L answer her a word]. So his ·followers [disciples] came to Jesus and ·begged [asked; urged] him, “Tell the woman to go away. [L Because] She is following us and ·shouting [crying out].”
24 Jesus answered, “·God sent me [L I was sent] only to the lost sheep, the ·people [L house] of Israel.”
25 Then the woman came to Jesus again and bowed before him and said, “Lord, help me!”
26 Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and ·give [throw] it to the dogs.” [C “Children” refers to Israel; “dogs” to the Gentiles.]
27 The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered, “[L O] Woman, you have great faith! ·I will do what you asked [L Let it be done for you as you wish].” And ·at that moment [L from that hour] the woman’s daughter was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People(C)
29 After leaving there, Jesus went along ·the shore of Lake Galilee [T the Sea of Galilee]. He went up on ·a hill [or the mountain] and sat there.
30 Great crowds came to Jesus, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, ·those who could not speak [the mute/deaf; C the word can refer to speech or hearing; v. 31 suggests it here means “mute”], and many others. They ·put [laid] them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them. 31 The crowd was ·amazed [astonished; marveled] when they saw that ·people who could not speak before [the mute/deaf] were now able to speak. The crippled were ·made strong [well; whole]. The lame could walk, and the blind could see. And they ·praised [glorified] the God of Israel for this.
More than Four Thousand Fed(D)
32 Jesus called his ·followers [disciples] to him and said, “I ·feel sorry [have compassion] for these people, because they have already been with me three days, and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might ·faint [collapse] while going home.”
33 His ·followers [disciples] asked him, “·How [L From where] can we get enough bread in this ·remote place [desolate place; desert] to feed ·all these people [L so great a crowd]?”
34 Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 Jesus told the people to ·sit [recline] on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God. Then he ·divided the food [L broke them] and gave it to his ·followers [disciples], and they gave it to the people. 37 All the people ate and were satisfied. Then his ·followers [disciples] filled seven ·baskets [large baskets; C a different word than in the feeding of the five thousand; 14:20] with the leftover pieces of food. 38 There were about four thousand men there who ate, besides women and children. 39 After ·sending the people home [dismissing the crowds], Jesus got into the boat and went to the ·area [region] of Magadan [C an unknown place, probably on the western shore of Lake Galilee; perhaps Magdala, the hometown of Mary Magdalene].
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:14 leaders Some Greek copies continue, “of blind people.”
Matthew 15
New International Version
Matthew 15
New International Version
That Which Defiles(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”(B)
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a](C) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b](D) 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.(E)’[c](F)”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,(G) but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”(H)
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted(I) will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[d](J) If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”(K)
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”(L)
16 “Are you still so dull?”(M) Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,(N) and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.(O) 20 These are what defile a person;(P) but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman(Q)
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.(R) 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David,(S) have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”(T)
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”(U)
25 The woman came and knelt before him.(V) “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith!(W) Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand(X)(Y)(Z)
29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.(AA) 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.(AB)
32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people;(AC) they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them(AD) and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.(AE) 38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
- Matthew 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
- Matthew 15:9 Isaiah 29:13
- Matthew 15:14 Some manuscripts blind guides of the blind
Expanded Bible (EXB)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.