13. Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted himself will be pulled up by the roots.
14. Stay away from the Pharisees. They are blind leaders. And if a blind man leads another blind man, then both men will fall into a ditch.”
15. Peter said, “Explain the story to us.”
16. Jesus said, “You still have trouble understanding?
17. Surely you know that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then that food goes out of the body.
18. But what a person says with his mouth comes from the way he thinks. And these are the things that make him unclean.
19. Out of the mind come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, stealing, lying, and saying bad things against other people.
20. These things make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean.”
21. Jesus left that place and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon.
22. A Canaanite woman from that area came to Jesus. The woman cried out, “Lord, Son of David, please help me! My daughter has a demon, and she is suffering very much.”
23. But Jesus did not answer the woman. So the followers came to Jesus and begged him, “Tell the woman to go away. She is following us and shouting.”
24. Jesus answered, “God sent me only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”
25. Then the woman came to Jesus again. She bowed before him and said, “Lord, help me!”
26. Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.”
27. The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces of food that fall from their masters’ table.”
28. Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! I will do what you asked me to do.” And at that moment the woman’s daughter was healed.
29. Then Jesus left that place and went to the shore of Lake Galilee. He went up on a hill and sat there.
30. Great crowds came to Jesus. They brought their sick with them: the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb and many others. They put them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them.
31. The crowd was amazed when they saw that people who could not speak were able to speak again. The crippled were made strong again. Those who could not walk were able to walk again. The blind were able to see again. And they praised the God of Israel for this.
32. Jesus called his followers to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint while going home.”