التمسك الأعمى بالتقاليد
(متى 15:1-9)1 واَجتمعَ إليهِ الفَرّيسيّونَ وبَعضُ مُعَلّمي الشّريعةِ القادمينَ مِنْ أُورُشليمَ. 2 فرأَوا بَعضَ تلاميذِهِ يتَناولونَ الطّعامَ بأيدٍ نَجِسَةٍ، أي غيرِ مَغسولَةٍ، فَلامُوهُ. 3 لأنّ الفَرّيسيّينَ واليهودَ على العُمومِ يَتَمسّكونَ بِتقاليدِ القُدَماءِ، فلا يأكُلونَ إلاّ بَعدَ أنْ يَغسِلوا أيديَهُم جيّدًا. 4 وإذا رَجَعوا مِنَ السّوقِ لا يأكُلونَ شَيئًا إلاّ إذا غَسَلوهُ. وهُناكَ أشياءُ أُخرى كثيرةٌ توارثوها ليَعملوا بِها، كغَسْلِ الكؤُوسِ والأباريقِ وأَوعيةِ النّحاسِ والأسرّةِ.
5 فسألَهُ الفَرّيسيّونَ ومُعَلّمو الشّريعَةِ: «لماذا لا يُراعي تلاميذُكَ تَقاليدَ القُدَماءِ، بل يتَناولونَ الطّعامَ بأيدٍ نَجِسَةٍ؟» 6 فأجابَهُم: «يا مُراؤونَ! صَدَقَ إشَعيا في نُبوءَتِهِ عنكُم، كما جاءَ في الكِتابِ:
هذا الشّعبُ يُكرِمُني بشَفَتَيهِ،
وأمّا قَلبُهُ فبعيدٌ عنّي.
7 وهوَ باطِلاً يَعبُدُني
بِتعاليمَ وضَعَها البَشَرُ.
8 أنتُم تُهمِلونَ وَصيّةَ اللهِ وتتَمَسّكونَ بِتقاليدِ البشَرِ».
9 وقالَ لهُم: «ما أبرَعكُم في نَقضِ شَريعةِ اللهِ لِتُحافِظوا على تَقاليدِكُم! 10 قالَ موسى: أكرِمْ أباكَ وأُمّكَ، ومَنْ لعَنَ أباهُ أو أُمّهُ فَموتًا يَموتَ. 11 أمّا أنتُم فتَقولونَ: إذا كانَ عِندَ أحَدٍ ما يُساعِدُ بِه أباهُ أو أُمّهُ، ثُمّ قالَ لهُما: هذا قُربانٌ، أي تَقدِمةٌ للهِ، 12 يُعفَى مِنْ مُساعَدَةِ أبيهِ أو أُمّهِ. 13 فتُبطِلونَ كلامَ اللهِ بتقاليدَ مِنْ عِندِكُم تَتوارثُونَها وهُناكَ أُمورٌ كثيرةٌ مِثْلُ هذِهِ تَعمَلونَها».
ما ينجس الإنسان
(متى 15:10-20)14 ودعا الجُموعَ وقالَ لهُم: «أَصغُوا إليّ كُلّكُم واَفهَموا: 15 ما مِنْ شيءٍ يَدخُلُ الإنسانَ مِنَ الخارِجِ يُنجّسُهُ. ولكن ما يخرُجُ مِنَ الإنسانِ هوَ الذي يُنَجّسُ الإنسانَ. 16 [مَنْ كانَ لَه أُذُنانِ تَسمَعانِ، فليَسمَعْ!»].
17 ولمّا ترَكَ الجُموعَ ورجَعَ إلى البَيتِ، سألَهُ تلاميذُهُ عَنْ مَغزى هذا المثَلِ، 18 فقالَ لهُم: «أهكذا أنتُم أيضًا لا تَفهَمونَ؟ ألا تَعرِفونَ أنّ ما يَدخُلُ الإنسانَ مِنَ الخارِجِ لا يُنجّسُهُ، 19 لأنّهُ لا يَدخُلُ إلى قلبِهِ، بل إلى جَوفِهِ، ثُمّ يَخرُجُ مِنَ الجَسَدِ؟» وفي قولِهِ هذا جعَلَ يَسوعُ الأطعِمَةَ كُلّها طاهِرَةً.
20 وقالَ لهُم: «ما يخرُجُ مِنَ الإنسانِ هوَ الذي يُنجّسُهُ، 21 لأنّ مِنَ الدّاخِلِ، مِنْ قُلوبِ النّاسِ، تَخرُجُ الأفكارُ الشّرّيرةُ: الفِسقُ والسّرِقةُ والقَتلُ 22 والزّنى والطّمعُ والخُبثُ والغشّ والفُجورُ والحَسَدُ والنّميمَةُ والكِبرياءُ والجَهلُ. 23 هذِهِ المفاسِدُ كُلّها تَخرُجُ مِنْ داخلِ الإنسانِ فَتُنَجّسُهُ».
إيمان المرأة الكنعانية
(متى 15:21-28)24 واَنتَقَلَ مِنْ هُناكَ إلى نواحي صورَ. ودخَلَ بَيتًا، وكانَ لا يُريدُ أنْ يَعلَمَ بِه أحدٌ، فَما أمكَنَهُ أنْ يُخفِيَ أمرَهُ. 25 وما إنْ سَمِعَت بِه اَمرأةٌ كانَ في اَبنَتِها رُوحٌ نَجِسٌ، حتى أسرعَت إليهِ واَرتَمَت على قَدَميهِ، 26 وسألتهُ أنْ يُخرِجَ الشّيطانَ مِن اَبنتِها. وكانَتِ المرأةُ غَيرَ يهودِيّةٍ، ومِنْ أصلٍ سورِيّ فينيقيّ. 27 فأجابَها يَسوعُ: «دَعي البَنِينَ أوّلاً يَشبَعونَ، فلا يَجوزُ أنْ يُؤْخَذَ خُبزُ البَنينَ ويُرمى لِلكِلابِ».
28 فقالَتِ المرأةُ: «يا سيّدي، حتى الكِلابُ تأكُلُ تَحتَ المائِدَةِ مِنْ فُتاتِ البَنينَ!» 29 فقالَ لها: «اَذهَبي، مِنْ أجلِ قولِكِ هذا خرَجَ الشّيطانُ مِن اَبنتِكِ». 30 فرجَعَتِ المرأةُ إلى بَيتِها، فوجَدَتِ اَبنتَها على السّريرِ، والشّيطانُ خرَجَ مِنها.
شفاء أصم
31 وترَكَ يَسوعُ نواحيَ صورَ، ومَرّ بصيدا راجِعًا إلى بحرِ الجليلِ، عَبْرَ أراضي المُدُنِ العَشْرِ. 32 فجاؤُوا إلَيهِ بأصمّ مُنعَقِدِ اللسانِ وتَوسّلوا إلَيهِ أنْ يَضَعَ يَدَهُ علَيهِ. 33 فاَبتَعَدَ بِه يَسوعُ عَنِ الجُموعِ، ووَضَعَ أصابِعَهُ في أُذنيِ الرّجُلِ وبصَقَ ولَمَسَ لِسانَهُ. 34 ورفَعَ عَينَيهِ نحوَ السّماءِ وتنَهّدَ وقالَ لِلرّجُلِ: «إفاتا، أي اَنفَتِحْ!» 35 ففي الحالِ اَنفَتحَت أُذُنا الرّجُلِ واَنحلّت عُقدةُ لِسانِهِ، فتكَلّم بِطَلاقةٍ. 36 وأوصاهُم يَسوعُ أنْ لا يُخبِروا أحدًا. فكانَ كُلّما أكثرَ مِنْ تَوصِيَتِهِم أكثَروا مِنْ إذاعَةِ الخَبَرِ. 37 وكانوا يَقولونَ بإِعجابٍ شَديدٍ: «ما أروَعَ أعمالَهُ كُلّها! جَعَلَ الصّمّ يَسمَعونَ والخُرسَ يَنطِقونَ».
The Teaching of the Ancestors
(Matthew 15.1-9)1 Some Pharisees and several teachers of the Law of Moses from Jerusalem came and gathered around Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples ate without first washing their hands.
3 The Pharisees and many others obey the teachings of their ancestors. They always wash their hands in the proper way before eating. 4 None of them will eat anything they buy in the market until it is washed. They also follow a lot of other teachings, such as washing cups, pitchers, and bowls.
5 The Pharisees and teachers asked Jesus, “Why don't your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? Why do they eat without washing their hands?”
6 Jesus replied:
You are nothing but show-offs! The prophet Isaiah was right when he wrote that God had said,
“All of you praise me
with your words,
but you never really
think about me.
7 It is useless for you
to worship me,
when you teach rules
made up by humans.”
8 You disobey God's commands in order to obey what humans have taught. 9 You are good at rejecting God's commands so that you can follow your own teachings! 10 Didn't Moses command you to respect your father and mother? Didn't he tell you to put to death all who curse their parents? 11 But you let people get by without helping their parents when they should. You let them say that what they own has been offered to God. 12 You won't let those people help their parents. 13 And you ignore God's commands in order to follow your own teaching. You do a lot of other things just as bad.
What Really Makes People Unclean
(Matthew 15.10-20)14 Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Pay attention and try to understand what I mean. 15-16 The food that you put into your mouth doesn't make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.”
17 After Jesus and his disciples had left the crowd and gone into the house, they asked him what these sayings meant. 18 He answered, “Don't you know what I am talking about by now? You surely know that the food you put into your mouth cannot make you unclean. 19 It doesn't go into your heart, but into your stomach, and then out of your body.” By saying this, Jesus meant that all foods were fit to eat.
20 Then Jesus said:
What comes from your heart is what makes you unclean. 21 Out of your heart come evil thoughts, vulgar deeds, stealing, murder, 22 unfaithfulness in marriage, greed, meanness, deceit, indecency, envy, insults, pride, and foolishness. 23 All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God.
A Woman's Faith
(Matthew 15.21-28)24 Jesus left and went to the region near the town of Tyre, where he stayed in someone's home. He did not want people to know he was there, but they found out anyway. 25 A woman whose daughter had an evil spirit in her heard where Jesus was. And at once she came and knelt down at his feet. 26 The woman was Greek and had been born in the part of Syria known as Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said, “The children must first be fed! It isn't right to take away their food and feed it to dogs.”
28 The woman replied, “Lord, even puppies eat the crumbs that children drop from the table.”
29 Jesus answered, “That's true! You may go now. The demon has left your daughter.” 30 When the woman got back home, she found her child lying on the bed. The demon had gone.
Jesus Heals a Man Who Was Deaf and Could Hardly Talk
31 Jesus left the region around Tyre and went by way of Sidon toward Lake Galilee. He went through the land near the ten cities known as Decapolis. 32 Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They begged Jesus just to touch him.
33 After Jesus had taken him aside from the crowd, he stuck his fingers in the man's ears. Then he spit and put it on the man's tongue. 34 Jesus looked up toward heaven, and with a groan he said, “Effatha!” which means “Open up!” 35 At once the man could hear, and he had no more trouble talking clearly.
36 Jesus told the people not to say anything about what he had done. But the more he told them, the more they talked about it. 37 They were completely amazed and said, “Everything he does is good! He even heals people who cannot hear or talk.”