Add parallel Print Page Options

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.'

Obey God’s Law Not Men’s

Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem. They gathered around Jesus. They saw that some of Jesus’ followers ate food with hands that were not clean. (“Not clean” means that they did not wash their hands in the way the Pharisees said people must. The Pharisees and all the Jews never eat before washing their hands in this special way. They do this to follow the teaching given to them by their great people who lived before them. And when the Jews buy something in the market, they never eat it until they wash it in a special way. They also follow other rules of their great people who lived before them. They follow rules about the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots.[a])

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law said to Jesus, “Your followers don’t follow the rules given to us by our great people who lived before us. Your followers eat their food with hands that are not clean. Why do they do this?”

Jesus answered, “You are all hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he spoke about you. Isaiah wrote,

‘These people show honor to me with words.
    But their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me is worthless.
    The things they teach are nothing
    but human rules they have memorized.’ Isaiah 29:13

You have stopped following the commands of God. Now you only follow the teachings of men.”[b]

Then Jesus said to them: “You think you are clever! You ignore the commands of God so that you can follow your own teachings! 10 Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’[c] Then Moses also said, ‘Anyone who says cruel things to his father or mother must be put to death.’[d] 11 But you teach that a person can say to his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it for you. I will give it to God.’ 12 You are telling that person that he does not have to do anything for his father or mother. 13 So you are teaching that it is not important to do what God said. You think that it is more important to follow your own rules, which you teach people. And you do many things like that.”

14 Jesus called the people to him again. He said, “Every person should listen to me and understand what I am saying. 15 There is nothing a person puts into his body that makes him unclean. A person is made unclean by the things that come out of him. 16 [Let those with ears use them and listen!]”[e]

17 When Jesus left the people and went inside, his followers asked him about this story. 18 Jesus said, “Do you still have trouble understanding? Surely you know that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him unclean. 19 Food does not go into a person’s mind. Food goes into his stomach. Then that food goes out of his body.” (When Jesus said this, he meant that there is no food that is unclean for people to eat.)

20 And Jesus said, “The things that come out of a man are the things that make him unclean. 21 All these evil things begin inside a person, in the mind: evil thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, 22 selfishness, doing bad things to other people, lying, doing sinful things, jealousy, saying bad things about people, pride, and foolish living. 23 All these evil things come from within a person. These things make a person unclean.”

Jesus Helps a Non-Jewish Woman

24 Jesus left that place and went to the area around Tyre.[f] He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. But Jesus could not stay hidden. 25 A woman heard that he was there. Her little daughter had an evil spirit in her. So the woman quickly came to Jesus and fell at his feet. 26 She was not Jewish. She was Greek, born in Phoenicia, in Syria. She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter.

27 Jesus told the woman: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs. First let the children eat all they want.”

28 She answered, “That is true, Lord. But the dogs under the table can eat the pieces of food that the children don’t eat.”

29 Then Jesus said, “That is a very good answer. You may go. The demon has left your daughter.”

30 The woman went home and found her daughter lying in bed. The demon was gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

31 Then Jesus left the area around Tyre. He went through Sidon to Lake Galilee, to the area of the Ten Towns.[g] 32 While he was there, some people brought a man to him. This man was deaf and could not talk. The people begged Jesus to put his hand on the man to heal him.

33 Jesus led the man away from the crowd, to be alone with him. Jesus put his fingers in the man’s ears. Then Jesus spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 Jesus looked up to heaven and took a deep breath. He said to the man, “Ephphatha!” (This means, “Be opened.”) 35 When Jesus did this, the man was able to hear. He was also able to use his tongue, and he spoke clearly.

36 Jesus commanded the people not to tell anyone about what happened. But the more he commanded them, the more they told about it. 37 They were really amazed. They said, “Jesus does everything well. He makes the deaf hear! And those who can’t talk—Jesus makes them able to speak.”

Footnotes

  1. 7:4 pots Some Greek copies continue, “and dining couches.”
  2. 7:8 teachings of men Some Greek copies continue, “You wash pitchers and jugs and do many other such things.”
  3. 7:10 ‘Honor . . . mother.’ Quotation from Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16.
  4. 7:10 ‘Anyone . . . death.’ Quotation from Exodus 21:17.
  5. 7:16 Let . . . listen. Some Greek copies do not contain the bracketed text.
  6. 7:24 Tyre Some Greek copies continue, “and Sidon.”
  7. 7:31 Ten Towns In Greek, called “Decapolis.” It was an area east of Lake Galilee that once had ten main towns.

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