SCRIPTURE
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
10 Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and
understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it
is what comes out of the mouth that defiles."
12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, "Do you know that
the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?" 13 He answered,
"Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14
Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person
guides another, both will fall into a pit."
15 But Peter said to him, "Explain this parable to us." 16 Then
he said, "Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that
whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what
defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery,
fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person,
but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile." 21 Jesus left that place
and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman
from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord,
Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." 23 But he did not
answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her
away, for she keeps shouting after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent
only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 But she came and knelt
before him, saying, "Lord, help me." 26 He answered, "It is not
fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 27 She said,
"Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters'
table." 28 Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let
it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.