8 prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is 9 far from me: and in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of

men.

10 And he called the multitude, and said unto 11 them, Hear, and understand. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man: but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth

12 a man.

Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant which

my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be 14 rooted up. Let them alone: they are blind

leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead 15 the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Then

answered Peter, and said unto him, Explain 16 unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye 17 also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth, goeth into the belly, and is cast out 18 into the draught? but those things which pro

ceed out of the mouth, come forth from the 19 heart and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blas20 phemies. These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands, defileth not a man.*

In the gospel, there is nothing like superstition; but the most sublime and rational morality.

90

2225

ST. MATTHEW.

21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into 22 the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold,

a woman of Canaan* came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David: my daugh23 ter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her 24 away, for she crieth after us. But he answered

and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep 25 of the house of Israel. Then she came and 26 worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered aud said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat

of the crumbs which fall from their master's 28 table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee, even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made 29 whole from that very hour.† And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee and went up into a mountain, 30 and sat down there. And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet: and 31 he healed them: insomuch that the multitude

* Our Lord preached only to the Jews; nor did his apostles go to the Gentile word, until after several years preaching to their own countrymen from the death of Christ. This woman was not a Jewess, though she inhabited a country bordering on Judea, and was no doubt acquainted with the Jewish scrip tures which predicted the coming of the Messiah.

+ See Mark, vii. 25.

32

wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.*

Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. 33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should

we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to -34 fill so great a multitude? And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they 35 said, Seven, and a few little fishes. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the 36 ground. And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks to God, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disci37 ples to the multitude. And they did all eat,

and were filled: and they took up of the broken 38 meat that was left seven baskets full. And they

who did eat, were four thousand men, beside 39 women and children. And he sent away the multitude, and took ship: and came into the coasts of Magdala.

CHAP. XVI.

1 THE Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting him, desired that he would shew

* Who had raised up for them a great Prophet and a Savior.

:

2 them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the 4 times?* A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. 5 And he left them and departed. And when

6

his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees 7 and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we 8 have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye 9 have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took 10 up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thou11 sand, and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand, that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of 12 the Sadducees? Then they understood that he bade them not beware of the leaven of

* Our Lord had already given so many proofs of his heavenly mission, that had they possessed any candor, they would have acknowledged him as the Messiah, and not insolently demanded of him more miracles.

bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say, that I, the Son of man, 14 am? And they said, Some say that thou art

John the Baptist; some Elijah; and others, 15 Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith 16 unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the 17 Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father 18 who is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of hell shall 19 not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on carth, shall be loosed in heaven. 20 Then he charged his disciples, that they should tell no man that he was the Messiah. §

* Not that he was desirous of knowing the opinions of men concerning himself, for he knew already. But he took this opportunity to draw forth Peter's declaration.

That is, the Messiah, the anointed.

The phrase, "the Son of the living God," and the remark of our Lord in the 17th verse would seem fully to imply that Christ were more than merely a prophet.

For it might cause tumult among the people, and persecution in the priests and rulers before his ministry was finished.