THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW

THE NEW TESTAMENT
TRANSLATED FROM
THE SYRIAC PESHITO VERSION BY JAMES MURDOCK

Chapter 15

(Mat 15:1) Then came to Jesus Pharisees and Scribes that were from Jerusalem, and said:

(Mat 15:2) Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders, and wash not their hands when they eat bread?

(Mat 15:3) Jesus replied and said to them: Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God, on account of your tradition?

(Mat 15:4) For God hath said: Honor thy father, and thy mother; and he that revileth his father or his mother, shall be put to death.

(Mat 15:5) But ye say: Whosoever shall say to a father or to a mother, Be that my offering, by which ye get profit from me: then he must not honor his father or his mother.

(Mat 15:6) And [thus] ye make void the word of God, for the sake of your tradition.

(Mat 15:7) Ye hypocrites, well did the prophet Isaiah prophesy of you, and say:

(Mat 15:8) This people honoreth me with the lips, but their heart is far from me.

(Mat 15:9) And in vain they pay me homage, while they teach doctrines that are the precepts of men.

(Mat 15:10) And he called the multitudes, and said to them, Hear and understand.

(Mat 15:11) Not that which entereth the mouth, defileth a man; but that which proceedeth from the mouth, that defileth a man.

(Mat 15:12) Then came his disciples, and said to him: Knowest thou, that the Pharisees were offended when they heard that speech?

(Mat 15:13) And he replied, and said to them: Every plant, which my Father who is in heaven hath not planted, shall be eradicated.

(Mat 15:14) Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind. And if a blind man leadeth one blind, they will both fall into the ditch.

(Mat 15:15) And Simon Cephas answered and said to him: My Lord, explain to us this similitude.

(Mat 15:16) And he said to them: Are ye also, up to this time, without understanding?

(Mat 15:17) Know ye not, that whatever entereth the mouth, passeth into the belly, and from there is ejected by purgation?

(Mat 15:18) But that which proceedeth from the mouth, cometh from the heart: and that is what defileth a man.

(Mat 15:19) For, from the heart proceed evil thoughts, adultery, murder, whoredom, theft, false testimony, reviling.

(Mat 15:20) These are the things that defile a man. But if a man eat while his hands are unwashed, he is not defiled.

(Mat 15:21) And Jesus departed from there, and went to the confines of Tyre and Sidon.

(Mat 15:22) And lo, a woman, a Canaanitess from those confines, came forth, calling out and saying: Compassionate me, my Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is grievously distressed by a demon.

(Mat 15:23) But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and requested of him, and said: Send her away, for she crieth after us.

(Mat 15:24) But he answered and said to them: I am not sent, except to the sheep that have strayed from the house of Israel.

(Mat 15:25) And she came, and worshipped him, and said: Help me, my Lord.

(Mat 15:26) Jesus said to her: It is not proper, to take the bread of the children and throw it to the dogs.

(Mat 15:27) And she said: Even so, my Lord; yet the dogs eat of the fragments that fall from the tables of their masters, and live.

(Mat 15:28) Then Jesus said to her: O woman, great is thy faith: be it to thee, as thou desirest. And her daughter was cured from that hour.

(Mat 15:29) And Jesus departed from there, and came to the side of the sea of Galilee: and he ascended a mountain, and sat there.

(Mat 15:30) And great multitudes came to him; and with them were the lame, and the blind, and the dumb, and the maimed, and many others: and they laid them at the feet of Jesus, and he healed them.

(Mat 15:31) So that the multitudes were amazed, when they saw the dumb speaking, and the maimed made whole, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing: and they praised the God of Israel.

(Mat 15:32) Then Jesus called his disciples, and said to them: I pity this multitude; for lo, these three days they have continued with me, and they have nothing to eat: and I am unwilling to send them away fasting, lest they faint by the way.

(Mat 15:33) His disciples say to him: Whence can we get bread in the wilderness, to satisfy all this multitude?

(Mat 15:34) Jesus said to them, How many loaves have ye? They said to him, Seven, and a few little fishes.

(Mat 15:35) And he commanded the multitudes to recline on the ground.

(Mat 15:36) And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.

(Mat 15:37) And they all ate, and were satisfied. And they took up the remains of fragments, seven full baskets.

(Mat 15:38) And they that had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children.

(Mat 15:39) And when he had sent away the multitudes, he took ship, and came to the coasts of Magdala.