---
title: "Matthew 15 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/matthew/15/
description: "Christ reproves the Scribes. He cures the daughter of the woman of Canaan: and… Matthew 15 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Matthew 15

Matthew 15 is chapter 15 of 28 in the Gospel of Matthew. Here are all 39 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> Christ reproves the Scribes. He cures the daughter of the woman of Canaan: and many others: and feeds four thousand with seven loaves.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Matthew 15 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. Then the scribes and the Pharisees came to him from Jerusalem, saying:
2. “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3. But responding, he said to them: “And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said:
4. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Whoever will have cursed father or mother shall die a death.’
5. But you say: ‘If anyone will have said to father or mother, “It is dedicated, so that whatever is from me will benefit you,”
6. then he shall not honor his father or his mother.’ So have you nullified the commandment of God, for the sake of your tradition.
7. Hypocrites! How well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8. ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
9. For in vain do they worship me, teaching the doctrines and commandments of men.’”
10. And having called the multitudes to him, he said to them: “Listen and understand.
11. A man is not defiled by what enters into the mouth, but by what proceeds from the mouth. This is what defiles a man.”
12. Then his disciples drew near and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees, upon hearing this word, were offended?”
13. But in response he said: “Every plant which has not been planted by my heavenly Father shall be uprooted.
14. Leave them alone. They are blind, and they lead the blind. But if the blind are in charge of the blind, both will fall into the pit.”
15. And responding, Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”
16. But he said: “Are you, even now, without understanding?
17. Do you not understand that everything that enters into the mouth goes into the gut, and is cast into the sewer?
18. But what proceeds from the mouth, goes forth from the heart, and those are the things that defile a man.
19. For from the heart go out evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies.
20. These are the things that defile a man. But to eat without washing hands does not defile a man.”
21. And departing from there, Jesus withdrew into the areas of Tyre and Sidon.
22. And behold, a woman of Canaan, going out from those parts, cried out, saying to him: “Take pity on me, Lord, Son of David. My daughter is badly afflicted by a demon.”
23. He did not say a word to her. And his disciples, drawing near, petitioned him, saying: “Dismiss her, for she is crying out after us.”
24. And responding, he said, “I was not sent except to the sheep who have fallen away from the house of Israel.”
25. But she approached and adored him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
26. And responding, he said, “It is not good to take the bread of the children and cast it to the dogs.”
27. But she said, “Yes, Lord, but the young dogs also eat from the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.”
28. Then Jesus, responding, said to her: “O woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you just as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
29. And when Jesus had passed from there, he arrived beside the sea of Galilee. And ascending onto a mountain, he sat down there.
30. And great multitudes came to him, having with them the mute, the blind, the lame, the disabled, and many others. And they cast them down at his feet, and he cured them,
31. so much so that the crowds wondered, seeing the mute speaking, the lame walking, the blind seeing. And they magnified the God of Israel.
32. And Jesus, calling together his disciples, said: “I have compassion on the crowds, because they have persevered with me now for three days, and they do not have anything to eat. And I am not willing to dismiss them, fasting, lest they faint along the way.”
33. And the disciples said to him: “From where, then, in the desert, would we obtain enough bread to satisfy so a great multitude?”
34. And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” But they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”
35. And he instructed the crowds to recline upon the ground.
36. And taking the seven loaves and the fish, and giving thanks, he broke and gave to his disciples, and the disciples gave to the people.
37. And they all ate and were satisfied. And, from what was left over of the fragments, they took up seven full baskets.
38. But those who ate were four thousand men, plus children and women.
39. And having dismissed the crowd, he climbed into a boat. And he went into the coastal region of Magadan.

## Matthew 15 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Tunc accesserunt ad eum ab Jerosolymis scribæ et pharisæi, dicentes:
2. Quare discipuli tui transgrediuntur traditionem seniorum? non enim lavant manus suas cum panem manducant.
3. Ipse autem respondens ait illis: Quare et vos transgredimini mandatum Dei propter traditionem vestram? Nam Deus dixit:
4. Honora patrem, et matrem: et, Qui maledixerit patri, vel matri, morte moriatur.
5. Vos autem dicitis: Quicumque dixerit patri, vel matri: Munus, quodcumque est ex me, tibi proderit:
6. et non honorificabit patrem suum, aut matrem suam: et irritum fecistis mandatum Dei propter traditionem vestram.
7. Hypocritæ, bene prophetavit de vobis Isaias, dicens:
8. Populus hic labiis me honorat: cor autem eorum longe est a me.
9. Sine causa autem colunt me, docentes doctrinas et mandata hominum.
10. Et convocatis ad se turbis, dixit eis: Audite, et intelligite.
11. Non quod intrat in os, coinquinat hominem: sed quod procedit ex ore, hoc coinquinat hominem.
12. Tunc accedentes discipuli ejus, dixerunt ei: Scis quia pharisæi audito verbo hoc, scandalizati sunt?
13. At ille respondens ait: Omnis plantatio, quam non plantavit Pater meus cælestis, eradicabitur.
14. Sinite illos: cæci sunt, et duces cæcorum; cæcus autem si cæco ducatum præstet, ambo in foveam cadunt.
15. Respondens autem Petrus dixit ei: Edissere nobis parabolam istam.
16. At ille dixit: Adhuc et vos sine intellectu estis?
17. Non intelligitis quia omne quod in os intrat, in ventrem vadit, et in secessum emittitur?
18. Quæ autem procedunt de ore, de corde exeunt, et ea coinquinant hominem:
19. de corde enim exeunt cogitationes malæ, homicidia, adulteria, fornicationes, furta, falsa testimonia, blasphemiæ:
20. hæc sunt, quæ coinquinant hominem. Non lotis autem manibus manducare, non coinquinat hominem.
21. Et egressus inde Jesus secessit in partes Tyri et Sidonis.
22. Et ecce mulier chananæa a finibus illis egressa clamavit, dicens ei: Miserere mei, Domine fili David: filia mea male a dæmonio vexatur.
23. Qui non respondit ei verbum. Et accedentes discipuli ejus rogabant eum dicentes: Dimitte eam: quia clamat post nos.
24. Ipse autem respondens ait: Non sum missus nisi ad oves, quæ perierunt domus Israël.
25. At illa venit, et adoravit eum, dicens: Domine, adjuva me.
26. Qui respondens ait: Non est bonum sumere panem filiorum, et mittere canibus.
27. At illa dixit: Etiam Domine: nam et catelli edunt de micis quæ cadunt de mensa dominorum suorum.
28. Tunc respondens Jesus, ait illi: O mulier, magna est fides tua: fiat tibi sicut vis. Et sanata est filia ejus ex illa hora.
29. Et cum transisset inde Jesus, venit secus mare Galilææ: et ascendens in montem, sedebat ibi.
30. Et accesserunt ad eum turbæ multæ, habentes secum mutos, cæcos, claudos, debiles, et alios multos: et projecerunt eos ad pedes ejus, et curavit eos,
31. ita ut turbæ mirarentur, videntes mutos loquentes, claudos ambulantes, cæcos videntes: et magnificabant Deum Israël.
32. Jesus autem, convocatis discipulis suis, dixit: Misereor turbæ, quia triduo jam perseverant mecum, et non habent quod manducent: et dimittere eos jejunos nolo, ne deficiant in via.
33. Et dicunt ei discipuli: Unde ergo nobis in deserto panes tantos, ut saturemus turbam tantam?
34. Et ait illis Jesus: Quot habetis panes? At illi dixerunt: Septem, et paucos pisciculos.
35. Et præcepit turbæ ut discumberent super terram.
36. Et accipiens septem panes, et pisces, et gratias agens, fregit, et dedit discipulis suis, et discipuli dederunt populo.
37. Et comederunt omnes, et saturati sunt. Et quod superfuit de fragmentis, tulerunt septem sportas plenas.
38. Erant autem qui manducaverunt quatuor millia hominum, extra parvulos et mulieres.
39. Et, dimissa turba, ascendit in naviculam: et venit in fines Magedan.

## Catechism of the Catholic Church

Paragraph numbers and the Catechism's own section headings (never quoted); text at vatican.va.
- cf. CCC ¶ 1968: The New Law or the Law of the Gospel ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1853: The Different Kinds of Sins ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2517: Purification of the Heart ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 448: Lord ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2610: In the Fullness of Time ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 579: Jesus and Israel ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1335: The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1329: What is This Sacrament Called? ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 5: That is, the offering that I shall make to God, shall be instead of that which should be expended for thy profit. This tradition of the Pharisees was calculated to enrich themselves; by exempting children from giving any further assistance to their parents, if they once offered to the temple and the priests, that which should have been the support of their parents. But this was a violation of the law of God, and of nature, which our Saviour here condemns.
- Verse 9: “Commandments of men” … The doctrines and commandments here reprehended are such as are either contrary to the law of God, (as that of neglecting parents, under pretence of giving to God,) or at least are frivolous, unprofitable, and no ways conducing to true piety, as that of often washing hands, etc., without regard to the purity of the heart. But as to the rules and ordinances of the holy church, touching fasts, festivals, etc., these are no ways repugnant to, but highly agreeable to God's holy word, and all Christian piety: neither are they to be counted among the doctrines and commandments of men; because they proceed not from mere human authority; but from that which Christ has established in his church; whose pastors he has commanded us to hear and obey, even as himself. St. Luke 10. 16; St. Matt. 18. 17.
- Verse 11: No uncleanness in meat, nor any dirt contracted by eating it with unwashed hands, can defile the soul: but sin alone; or a disobedience of the heart to the ordinance and will of God. And thus when Adam took the forbidden fruit, it was not the apple, which entered into the mouth, but the disobedience to the law of God which defiled him. The same is to be said if a Jew, in the time of the old law, had eaten swine's flesh; or a Christian convert, in the days of the apostles, contrary to their ordinance, had eaten blood; or if any of the faithful at present should transgress the ordinance of God's church, by breaking the fasts: for in all these cases the soul would be defiled; not indeed by that which goeth into the mouth; but by the disobedience of the heart, in wilfully transgressing the ordinance of God, or of those who have their authority from him.

## Read at Mass (US)

- Wed, Dec 2, 2026: Wednesday of the First Week of Advent — Gospel, Matthew 15:29-37
- Wed, Aug 4, 2027 (computed): St. John Vianney, Priest — Gospel, Matthew 15:21-28
- Wed, Dec 1, 2027 (computed): Wednesday of the First Week of Advent — Gospel, Matthew 15:29-37
- Wed, Aug 9, 2028 (computed): Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time — Gospel, Matthew 15:21-28

1 more date through December 31, 2028, in the [liturgical calendar](https://blessbible.app/calendar/).

Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).