Chapter 15

Tradition and Commandment

1 aThen some Pharisees and scribes * came to Jesus bfrom Jerusalem and said,

2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ado not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

4 “For God said, ‘aHonor your father and mother,’ and, ‘bHe who speaks evil of father or mother is to 1be put to death.’

5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been 1given to God,”

6 he is not to honor his father or his mother1.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

8 ‘aThis people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as adoctrines the precepts of men.’ ”

10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand.

11 “aIt is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

12 Then the disciples * came and * said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were 1offended when they heard this statement?”

13 But He answered and said, “aEvery plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.

14 “Let them alone; athey are blind guides 1of the blind. And bif a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

15 Peter 1said to Him, “aExplain the parable to us.”

16 1Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also?

17 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is 1eliminated?

18 “But athe things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.

19 “aFor out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, 1fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.

20 “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

21 aJesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of bTyre and bSidon.

22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, aSon of David; my daughter is cruelly bdemon-possessed.”

23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting 1at us.”

24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to athe lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25 But she came and abegan 1to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

26 And He answered and said, “It is not 1good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; 1but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, ayour faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed 1at once.

Healing Crowds

29 aDeparting from there, Jesus went along by bthe Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there.

30 And 1large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and aHe healed them.

31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled 1restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they aglorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Fed

32 aAnd Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “bI feel compassion for the 1people, because they 2have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

33 The disciples * said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

34 And Jesus * said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

35 And He directed the 1people to 2sit down on the ground;

36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and agiving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large abaskets full.

38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into athe boat and came to the region of bMagadan.

Chapter 16

Pharisees Test Jesus

1 aThe bPharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they casked Him to show them a 1sign from heaven.

2 But He replied to them, “1aWhen it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’

3 “And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ aDo you know how to discern the 1appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?

4 “aAn evil and adulterous generation seeks after a 1sign; and a 1sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

5 And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread.

6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and abeware of the 1leaven of the bPharisees and Sadducees.”

7 They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.”

8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “aYou men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?

9 “Do you not yet understand or remember athe five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?

10 “Or athe seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up?

11 “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But abeware of the 1leaven of the bPharisees and Sadducees.”

12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the aPharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

13 aNow when Jesus came into the district of bCaesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that cthe Son of Man is?”

14 And they said, “Some say aJohn the Baptist; and others, 1bElijah; but still others, 2Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

15 He * said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are 1athe Christ, bthe Son of cthe living God.”

17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, aSimon 1Barjona, because bflesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

18 “I also say to you that you are 1aPeter, and upon this 2rock I will build My church; and the gates of bHades will not overpower it.

19 “I will give you athe keys of the kingdom of heaven; and bwhatever you bind on earth 1shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth 2shall have been loosed in heaven.”

20 aThen He 1warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was 2bthe Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

21 aFrom that time 1Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and bsuffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “1God forbid it, Lord! This shall never 2happen to You.”

23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, aSatan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on 1God’s interests, but man’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and atake up his cross and follow Me.

25 “For awhoever wishes to save his 1life will lose it; but whoever loses his 1life for My sake will find it.

26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

27 “For the aSon of Man bis going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and cwill then 1repay every man according to his 2deeds.

28 “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the aSon of Man bcoming in His kingdom.”

Chapter 17

The Transfiguration

1 aSix days later Jesus * took with Him bPeter and 1James and John his brother, and * led them up on a high mountain by themselves.

2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.

3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, aI will make three 1tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, aa voice out of the cloud said, “bThis is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

6 When the disciples heard this, they fell 1face down to the ground and were terrified.

7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and ado not be afraid.”

8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

9 aAs they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “bTell the vision to no one until cthe Son of Man has drisen from the dead.”

10 And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that aElijah must come first?”

11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things;

12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did 1to him whatever they wished. So also athe Son of Man is going to suffer 2at their hands.”

13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

The Demoniac

14 aWhen they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying,

15 “1Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a 2alunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

16 “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.”

17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”

18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured 1at once.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?”

20 And He * said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, aif you have faith 1the size of ba mustard seed, you will say to cthis mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and dnothing will be impossible to you.

21 [“1aBut this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”]

22 aAnd while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be 1delivered into the hands of men;

23 and athey will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

The Tribute Money

24 When they came to Capernaum, those who collected athe 1two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay athe 1two-drachma tax?”

25 He * said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect acustoms or bpoll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?”

26 When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are 1exempt.

27 “However, so that we do not 1aoffend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find 2a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”