That Which Defiles
1Then 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!”
3Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16 and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’15:4 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9 5But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’15:9 Isaiah 29:13”
10Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14Leave them; they are blind guides.15:14 Some manuscripts blind guides of the blind If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26He 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.”
28Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
29Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Great 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. 31The 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.
32Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; 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.”
33His 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.”
35He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. 39After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.
傳統與誡命
1有幾個法利賽人和律法教師從耶路撒冷來質問耶穌： 2「為什麼你的門徒吃飯前不行洗手禮，破壞祖先的傳統呢？」
3耶穌回答說：「為什麼你們因拘守傳統而違背上帝的誡命呢？ 4上帝說，『要孝敬父母』15·4 出埃及記20·12；申命記5·16。，又說，『咒罵父母的，必被處死。』15·4 出埃及記21·17；利未記20·9。 5你們卻說，『人如果宣佈把供養父母的錢奉獻給上帝， 6他就不必孝敬父母了。』你們這是用傳統來廢掉上帝的誡命。 7你們這些偽君子，以賽亞針對你們說的預言一點沒錯，
8「『這些人嘴上尊崇我，
心卻遠離我，
9他們的教導無非是人的規條，
他們敬拜我也是枉然。』15·9 以賽亞書29·13。」
10耶穌召集了眾人，對他們說：「你們要聽，也要明白。 11入口的東西不會使人污穢，從口中出來的才會使人污穢。」
12門徒上前對祂說：「你知道嗎？法利賽人聽見你的話很反感。」
13耶穌回答說：「凡不是我天父栽種的都要被連根拔起來。 14隨便他們吧！他們是瞎眼的嚮導。瞎眼的給瞎眼的領路，二人都會掉進坑裡。」
15彼得對耶穌說：「請給我們解釋一下這個比喻。」
16耶穌說：「你們也還是這樣糊塗嗎？ 17豈不知入口的東西都是進到肚子裡，然後排進廁所嗎？ 18可是，從口中出來的乃是發自內心，會使人污穢。 19因為從心裡出來的有惡念、謀殺、通姦、淫亂、偷盜、假見證和毀謗， 20這些東西才使人污穢。不洗手吃飯並不會使人污穢。」
迦南婦人的信心
21耶穌從那裡退到泰爾和西頓境內。 22那地方有個迦南的婦人前來大聲懇求耶穌：「主啊！大衛的後裔啊！可憐我吧！我的女兒被鬼附身，受盡折磨！」 23耶穌卻一言不答。門徒上前求祂說：「請讓她走吧！她老是在我們後面喊叫。」
24耶穌說：「我奉差遣只是來尋找以色列家迷失的羊。」
25那婦人上前跪下，說：「主啊！求你幫幫我吧！」
26耶穌答道：「把兒女的食物丟給狗吃，不合適。」
27婦人說：「主啊，不錯，可是狗也吃主人飯桌上掉下來的碎渣呀！」
28耶穌說：「婦人，你的信心真大！我答應你的要求。」就在那一刻，她女兒痊癒了。
耶穌使四千人吃飽
29耶穌離開那裡，來到加利利湖邊，上了山，在那裡坐下。 30大群的人把瘸腿的、瞎眼的、殘疾的、啞巴及許多別的病人帶來，放在祂腳前，祂就醫治了他們。 31眾人看見啞巴說話，殘疾的復原，瘸腿的走路，瞎眼的看見，都很驚奇，就讚美以色列的上帝。
32耶穌把門徒召集過來，對他們說：「我憐憫這些人，他們跟我在一起已經三天，沒有任何吃的。我不願讓他們餓著肚子回去，以免他們在路上體力不支。」
33門徒說：「在這荒郊野外，我們到哪裡找足夠的食物給這麼多人吃呢？」
34耶穌問：「你們有多少餅？」
門徒答道：「七個，還有幾條小魚。」
35耶穌便吩咐眾人坐在地上。 36祂拿著那七個餅和幾條魚祝謝後，掰開，遞給門徒，門徒再分給眾人。 37大家都吃了，並且吃飽了，剩下的零碎裝滿了七個筐子。 38當時吃飯的，除了婦女和小孩，共有四千男人。 39耶穌遣散眾人以後，就坐船去了馬加丹地區。
