Mark 7
New International Version - Mark 7 << | >> 12345678910111213141516 7:1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 7:2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were 'unclean,' that is, unwashed. 7:3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 7:4 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. ) 7:5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, 'Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with `unclean' hands?' 7:6 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. 7:7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' 7:8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.' 7:9 And he said to them: 'You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 7:10 For Moses said, `Honor your father and your mother,' and, `Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' 7:11 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: `Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), 7:12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 7:13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.' 7:14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, 'Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 7:15 Nothing outside a man can make him `unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him `unclean.' ' 7:16 － 7:17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 7:18 'Are you so dull?' he asked. 'Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him `unclean'? 7:19 For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.' (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods 'clean.') 7:20 He went on: 'What comes out of a man is what makes him `unclean.' 7:21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 7:22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 7:23 All these evils come from inside and make a man `unclean.'' 7:24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 7:25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. 7:26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 7:27 '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 their dogs.' 7:28 'Yes, Lord,' she replied, 'but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.' 7:29 Then he told her, 'For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.' 7:30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. 7:31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 7:32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man. 7:33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. 7:34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, 'Ephphatha!' (which means, 'Be opened!'). 7:35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. 7:36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 7:37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. 'He has done everything well,' they said. 'He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.'