Followers of Tradition

7 ^(A)The Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered to Him after they came ^(B)from Jerusalem, ² and saw that some of His disciples were eating their bread with ^[a](C)unholy hands, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they ^[b]carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the ^(D)tradition of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they ^[c]completely cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received as traditions to firmly hold, such as the ^[d]washing of ^(E)cups, pitchers, and copper pots.) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk in accordance with the ^(F)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with ^(G)[e]unholy hands?” ⁶ But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the ^(J)tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your ^(K)tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘^(L)Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘^(M)The one who speaks evil of father or mother, is ^[f]certainly to be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a person says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is ^(N)Corban (that is, ^[g]given to God),’ ¹² you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thereby invalidating the word of God by your ^(O)tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁴ After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside the person which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which come out of the person are what defile the person^[h].”

¹⁷ And when He later entered a house, away from the crowd, ^(P)His disciples asked Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and ^[i]is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared ^(Q)all foods ^(R)clean.) ²⁰ And He was saying, “^(S)That which comes out of the person, that is what defiles the person. ²¹ For from within, out of the ^[j]hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery, ²² deeds of greed, wickedness, deceit, indecent behavior, ^[k](T)envy, slander, ^[l]pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile the person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

^24 (U)Now Jesus got up and went from there to the region of ^(V)Tyre^[m]. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know about it; and yet He could not escape notice. ²⁵ But after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a ^[n]Gentile, of Syrophoenician descent. And she repeatedly asked Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not ^[o]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the ^[p]dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ And He said to her, “Because of this ^[q]answer, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰ And after going back to her home, she found the child ^[r]lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

^31 (W)Again He left the region of ^(X)Tyre and came through Sidon to ^(Y)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of ^(Z)Decapolis. ³² And they *brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they *begged Him to ^(AA)lay His hand on him. ³³ And Jesus ^(AB)took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers in his ears, and after ^(AC)spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; ³⁴ and looking up to heaven with a deep ^(AD)sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” ³⁵ And his ears were opened, and the ^[s]impediment of his tongue was ^[t]removed, and he began speaking plainly. ³⁶ And ^(AE)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they ^(AF)continued to proclaim it. ³⁷ And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”

Four Thousand Men Fed

8 In those days, ^(AG)when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus summoned His disciples and *said to them, ² “^(AH)I feel compassion for the ^[u]people because they have remained with Me for three days already and have nothing to eat. ³ And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” ⁴ And His disciples replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough ^[v]bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” ⁵ And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” ⁶ And He *directed the ^[w]people to recline on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve, and they served them to the ^[x]people. ⁷ They also had a few small fish; and ^(AI)after He had blessed them, He told the disciples to serve these as well. ⁸ And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large ^(AJ)baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. ⁹ About four thousand ^[y]men were there; and He dismissed them. ¹⁰ And immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and came to the region of ^(AK)Dalmanutha.

^11 (AL)And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, ^(AM)demanding from Him a ^[z]sign from heaven, ^[aa]to test Him. ^12 (AN)Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, “Why does this generation demand a ^[ab]sign? Truly I say to you, ^[ac](AO)no ^[ad]sign will be given to this generation!” ¹³ And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.

¹⁴ And the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. ¹⁵ And He was giving orders to them, saying, “^(AP)Watch out! Beware of the ^[ae]leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of ^(AQ)Herod.” ¹⁶ And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And Jesus, aware of this, *said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? ^(AR)Do you not yet comprehend or understand? Do you still have your heart ^[af]hardened? ^18 (AS)Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, ¹⁹ when I broke ^(AT)the five loaves for the five thousand, how many ^(AU)baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They *said to Him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “When I broke ^(AV)the seven for the four thousand, how many large ^(AW)baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they *said to Him, “Seven.” ²¹ And He was saying to them, “^(AX)Do you not yet understand?”

²² And they *came to ^(AY)Bethsaida. And some people *brought a man who was blind to ^[ag]Jesus and *begged Him to ^(AZ)touch him. ²³ Taking the man who was blind by the hand, He ^(BA)brought him out of the village; and after ^(BB)spitting in his eyes and ^(BC)laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he ^[ah]looked up and said, “I see people, for I see them like trees, walking around.” ²⁵ Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. ²⁶ And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter ^(BD)the village.”

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^27 (BE)Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of ^(BF)Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” ^28 (BG)They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” ^(BH)Peter answered and *said to Him, “You are the ^[ai]Christ.” ³⁰ And ^(BI)He ^[aj]warned them to tell no one about Him.

^31 (BJ)And He began to teach them that ^(BK)the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. ³² And He was stating the matter ^(BL)plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, ^(BM)Satan; for you are not setting your mind on ^[ak]God’s purposes, but on man’s.”

³⁴ And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^(BN)take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵ For ^(BO)whoever wants to save his ^[al]life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^[am]life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ For ^(BP)whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, ^(BQ)the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He ^(BR)comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”