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And gathered together unto him are the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, having come from Jerusalem,

and having seen certain of his disciples with defiled hands -- that is, unwashed -- eating bread, they found fault;

for the Pharisees, and all the Jews, if they do not wash the hands to the wrist, do not eat, holding the tradition of the elders,

and, [coming] from the market-place, if they do not baptize themselves, they do not eat; and many other things there are that they received to hold, baptisms of cups, and pots, and brazen vessels, and couches.

Then question him do the Pharisees and the scribes, `Wherefore do thy disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but with unwashed hands do eat the bread?'

and he answering said to them -- `Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you, hypocrites, as it hath been written, This people with the lips doth honor Me, and their heart is far from Me;

and in vain do they worship Me, teaching teachings, commands of men;

for, having put away the command of God, ye hold the tradition of men, baptisms of pots and cups; and many other such like things ye do.'

And he said to them, `Well do ye put away the command of God that your tradition ye may keep;

10 for Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, He who is speaking evil of father or mother -- let him die the death;

11 and ye say, If a man may say to father or to mother, Korban (that is, a gift), [is] whatever thou mayest be profited out of mine,

12 and no more do ye suffer him to do anything for his father or for his mother,

13 setting aside the word of God for your tradition that ye delivered; and many such like things ye do.'

14 And having called near all the multitude, he said to them, `Hearken to me, ye all, and understand;

15 there is nothing from without the man entering into him that is able to defile him, but the things coming out from him, those are the things defiling the man.

16 If any hath ears to hear -- let him hear.'

17 And when he entered into a house from the multitude, his disciples were questioning him about the simile,

18 and he saith to them, `So also ye are without understanding! Do ye not perceive that nothing from without entering into the man is able to defile him?

19 because it doth not enter into his heart, but into the belly, and into the drain it doth go out, purifying all the meats.'

20 And he said -- `That which is coming out from the man, that doth defile the man;

21 for from within, out of the heart of men, the evil reasonings do come forth, adulteries, whoredoms, murders,

22 thefts, covetous desires, wickedness, deceit, arrogance, an evil eye, evil speaking, pride, foolishness;

23 all these evils do come forth from within, and they defile the man.'

24 And from thence having risen, he went away to the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and having entered into the house, he wished none to know, and he was not able to be hid,

25 for a woman having heard about him, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having come, fell at his feet, --

26 and the woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phenician by nation -- and was asking him, that the demon he may cast forth out of her daughter.

27 And Jesus said to her, `Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast [it] to the little dogs.'

28 And she answered and saith to him, `Yes, sir; for the little dogs also under the table do eat of the children's crumbs.'

29 And he said to her, `Because of this word go; the demon hath gone forth out of thy daughter;'

30 and having come away to her house, she found the demon gone forth, and the daughter laid upon the couch.

31 And again, having gone forth from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis,

32 and they bring to him a deaf, stuttering man, and they call on him that he may put the hand on him.

33 And having taken him away from the multitude by himself, he put his fingers to his ears, and having spit, he touched his tongue,

34 and having looked to the heaven, he sighed, and saith to him, `Ephphatha,' that is, `Be thou opened;'

35 and immediately were his ears opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he was speaking plain.

36 And he charged them that they may tell no one, but the more he was charging them, the more abundantly they were proclaiming [it],

37 and they were being beyond measure astonished, saying, `Well hath he done all things; both the deaf he doth make to hear, and the dumb to speak.'

That Which Defiles(A)

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled,(B) that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.(C) When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a])(D)

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders(E) instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’[b](F)

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”(G)

And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions!(H) 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[d](I) and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[e](J) 11 But you say(K) that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God(L) by your tradition(M) that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [f]

17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him(N) about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods(O) clean.)(P)

20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed,(Q) malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith(R)

24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.[g](S) He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit(T) came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man(U)

31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre(V) and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee(W) and into the region of the Decapolis.[h](X) 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk,(Y) and they begged Jesus to place his hand on(Z) him.

33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit(AA) and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven(AB) and with a deep sigh(AC) said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.(AD)

36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone.(AE) But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Footnotes

  1. Mark 7:4 Some early manuscripts pitchers, kettles and dining couches
  2. Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13
  3. Mark 7:9 Some manuscripts set up
  4. Mark 7:10 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
  5. Mark 7:10 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
  6. Mark 7:16 Some manuscripts include here the words of 4:23.
  7. Mark 7:24 Many early manuscripts Tyre and Sidon
  8. Mark 7:31 That is, the Ten Cities