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aThen some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus bfrom Jerusalem and said,
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"Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ado not wash their hands when they eat bread."
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And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
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"For God said, 'aHONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,' and, 'bHE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.'
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"But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,"
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he is not to honor his father or his mother.' And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
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"You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
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'aTHIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
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'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS aDOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"
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After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand.
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"aIt is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."
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Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?"
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But He answered and said, "aEvery plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.
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"Let them alone; athey are blind guides of the blind. And bif a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
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Peter said to Him, "aExplain the parable to us."
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Jesus said, "Are you still lacking in understanding also?
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"Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?
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"But athe things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.
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"aFor out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
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"These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."
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aJesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of bTyre and bSidon.
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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."
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But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us."
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But He answered and said, "I was sent only to athe lost sheep of the house of Israel."
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But she came and abegan to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"
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And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
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But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."
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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 at once.
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aDeparting from there, Jesus went along by bthe Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there.
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And large 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.
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So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they aglorified the God of Israel.
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aAnd Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "bI feel compassion for the people, because they have 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."
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The disciples said to Him, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?"
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And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few small fish."
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And He directed the people to sit down on the ground;
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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.
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And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large abaskets full.
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And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
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And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into athe boat and came to the region of bMagadan.