Traditions and Commandments

1 ^mThen Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the ⁿtradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ^o‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ^p‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”¹ 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word² of God. 7 You hypocrites! ^qWell did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

What Defiles a Person

10 ^tAnd he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 ^uit is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, ^vbut what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every ^wplant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be ^xrooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are ^yblind guides.³ And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, ^z“Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?⁴ 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 ^aFor out of the ^bheart come evil thoughts, ^cmurder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

21 ^dAnd ^eJesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, ^fSon of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the ^glost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and ^hthrow it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the ⁱcrumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you ^jas you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.⁵

Jesus Heals Many

29 Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the ^klame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 so that the crowd ^lwondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they ^mglorified the God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

32 ⁿThen Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have ^ocompassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ^pate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs

1 ^qAnd the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them,⁶ “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 ^rAn evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except ^sthe sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

5 ^tWhen the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch and ^ubeware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, ^v“O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 9 ^wDo you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and ^xhow many baskets you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and ^yhow many baskets you gathered? 11 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

13 ^zNow when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say ^aJohn the Baptist, others say ^bElijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the ^cprophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, ^d“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, ^ebut my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and ^fon this ^grock⁷ I will ^hbuild my church, and the ⁱgates of hell⁸ shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the ^jkeys of the kingdom of heaven, and ^kwhatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed⁹ in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

21 ^lFrom that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the ^mthird day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord!¹⁰ This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, ⁿ“Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance¹¹ to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

24 ^oThen Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and ^ptake up his cross and ^qfollow me. 25 ^rFor whoever would save his life¹² will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he ^sgains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to ^tcome with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person ^uaccording to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are ^vsome standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to ^sMahalath Leannoth. A Maskil¹ of Heman the Ezrahite.