Mark 7 — TCENT

The Traditions of the Elders

7Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem were gathered around⁺Jesus.²When they saw some of his disciples eating bread with hands that were defiled (that is, unwashed), they criticized them.³(For none of the Pharisees or Jews eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders.⁴And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have⁺washed. There are also many other traditions they observe, such as the washing of cups,⁺pots, copper vessels, and dining couches.)⁵Now the Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, “Why do yoʋr disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with⁺unwashed hands?”⁶He⁺answered them,“Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
⁷They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’⁸⁺For you have neglected the commandment of God and are holding to the tradition of⁺men, such as various washings of pots and cups. And you do many other similar things such as these.”⁹Then he said to them,“You have a fine way of setting aside the commandment of God so that you may⁺keep your tradition!¹⁰For Moses said, ‘Honor yoʋr father and yoʋr mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of his father or mother must surely die.’¹¹But you teach that it is acceptable for a man to say to his father or mother, ‘Whatever benefit yoʋ might have received from me is Corban’ ”(that is, a gift devoted to God).¹²“In this way you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother,¹³thus nullifying the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many similar things such as these.”¹⁴Then Jesus called⁺over the entire crowd and said to them,“Listen to me, all of you, and understand:¹⁵There is nothing outside of a person that can defile him by going into him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.¹⁶⁺If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”¹⁷After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into a house, his disciples asked him about the parable.¹⁸He said to them,“So are you also without understanding? Do you⁺not understand that whatever goes into a person from the outside cannot defile him?¹⁹For it does not go into his heart but into his stomach; then it goes out into the⁺latrine, thus purifying all foods.”²⁰He also said,“It is what comes out of a person that defiles a person.²¹For from within, from the hearts of men, come evil thoughts,⁺adultery, fornication, murder,²²theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.²³All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

A Syrophoenician Woman's Faith

²⁴Then Jesus rose from there and went away to the region of Tyre⁺and Sidon. He went into⁺a house and did not want anyone to know it, yet he could not escape notice.²⁵⁺For a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him and came and fell at his feet.²⁶(This woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth.) She asked Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter.²⁷But Jesus said to her,“Let the children first be filled, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”²⁸She answered him, “⁺Yes, Lord,⁺yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.”²⁹Then he said to her,“Because of this reply, yoʋ may go; the demon has come out of yoʋr daughter.”³⁰And when she went to her house, she found⁺the demon gone and her daughter lying in bed.

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man

³¹Then Jesus came back from the region of Tyre and⁺Sidon and went to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis.³²Some people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on the man.³³So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd. Then he put his fingers into the man's ears, spit, and touched the man's tongue.³⁴And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him,“Ephphatha”(that is,“Be opened”).³⁵⁺Immediately the man's ears were opened, the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking clearly.³⁶Then Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone. But as much as he ordered them not to do so, they proclaimed it all the more.³⁷And they were completely astonished, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”