Matthew 15; Psalm 41-43 (New International Version)

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Matthew 15

New International Version (NIV)

That Which Defiles

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!"

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’^[a] and ’Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^[b] 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. ’^[c] "

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.^[d] 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.

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

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Psalm 41-43

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 41^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;
the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.
²The Lord protects and preserves them−
they are counted among the blessed in the land−
he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.
³The Lord sustains them on their sickbed
and restores them from their bed of illness.

⁴I said, "Have mercy on me, Lord;
heal me, for I have sinned against you."
⁵My enemies say of me in malice,
"When will he die and his name perish? "
⁶When one of them comes to see me,
he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander;
then he goes out and spreads it around.

⁷All my enemies whisper together against me;
they imagine the worst for me, saying,
⁸"A vile disease has afflicted him;
he will never get up from the place where he lies."
⁹Even my close friend,
someone I trusted,
one who shared my bread,
has turned^[b] against me.

¹⁰But may you have mercy on me, Lord;
raise me up, that I may repay them.
¹¹I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does not triumph over me.
¹²Because of my integrity you uphold me
and set me in your presence forever.

¹³Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.

BOOK II

Psalms 42–72

Psalm 42^[c]^[d]

For the director of music. A maskil^[e] of the Sons of Korah.

¹As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
²My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
³My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
⁴These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One^[f]
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.

⁵Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

⁶My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon −from Mount Mizar.
⁷Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

⁸By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me−
a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I say to God my Rock,
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?"
¹⁰My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"

¹¹Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 43^[g]

¹Vindicate me, my God,
and plead my cause
against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me from those who are
deceitful and wicked.
²You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?
³Send me your light and your faithful care,
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
⁴Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.