Matthew 15:29-16:12

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Healing Many People

²⁹ Moving on from there,^(A) Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee.^(B) He went up on a mountain and sat there, ³⁰ and large crowds came to Him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them at His feet, and He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd was amazed when they saw those unable to speak talking, the deformed restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing.^(C) And they gave glory to the God of Israel.

Feeding 4,000

³² Now Jesus summoned His disciples and said,^(D) “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry; otherwise they might collapse on the way.”

³³ The disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place^(E) to fill such a crowd?”

³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked them.

“Seven,” they said, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵ After commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶ He took the seven loaves and the fish, and He gave thanks, broke them, and kept on giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.^{(F) 37} They all ate and were filled. Then they collected the leftover pieces—seven large baskets full. ³⁸ Now those who ate were 4,000 men, besides women and children. ³⁹ After dismissing the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.^[a](G)

The Yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees

16 The Pharisees and Sadducees approached,^(H) and as a test, asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.^(I)

² He answered them: “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be good weather because the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy because the sky is red and threatening.’ You^[b] know how to read the appearance of the sky, but you can’t read the signs of the times.^{[c] 4} An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of^[d] Jonah.”^(J) Then He left them and went away.

⁵ The disciples reached the other shore,^[e] and they had forgotten to take bread.

⁶ Then Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the yeast^[f] of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”^(K)

⁷ And they discussed among themselves, “We didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸ Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith!^(L) Why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread? ⁹ Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000 and how many baskets you collected? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many large baskets you collected?^{(M) 11} Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees,’ it wasn’t about bread?”^{(N) 12} Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the yeast in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.^(O)