Mark 7

New International Version

That Which Defiles^(A)

7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus ²and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled,^(B) that is, unwashed. 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.^(C) ⁴When 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)

⁵So 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?”

⁶He 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.
⁷They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’^[b]^(F)

⁸You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”^(G)

⁹And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe^[c] your own traditions!^(H) ¹⁰For 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) ¹¹But 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)— ¹²then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. ¹³Thus you nullify the word of God^(L) by your tradition^(M) that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

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

¹⁷After 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? ¹⁹For 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)

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

Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith^(R)

²⁴Jesus 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. ²⁵In 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. ²⁶The 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.”

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

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

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man^(U)

³¹Then 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) ³²There 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.

³³After 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. ³⁴He looked up to heaven^(AB) and with a deep sigh^(AC) said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). ³⁵At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.^(AD)

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

Footnotes

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

Job 30

New International Version

30 “But now they mock me,^(A)
    men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to put with my sheep dogs.^(B)
²Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
    since their vigor had gone from them?
³Haggard from want and hunger,
    they roamed^[a] the parched land^(C)
    in desolate wastelands^(D) at night.^(E)
⁴In the brush they gathered salt herbs,^(F)
    and their food^[b] was the root of the broom bush.^(G)
⁵They were banished from human society,
    shouted at as if they were thieves.
⁶They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
    among the rocks and in holes in the ground.^(H)
⁷They brayed^(I) among the bushes^(J)
    and huddled in the undergrowth.
⁸A base and nameless brood,^(K)
    they were driven out of the land.^(L)

⁹“And now those young men mock me^(M) in song;^(N)
    I have become a byword^(O) among them.
¹⁰They detest me^(P) and keep their distance;
    they do not hesitate to spit in my face.^(Q)
¹¹Now that God has unstrung my bow^(R) and afflicted me,^(S)
    they throw off restraint^(T) in my presence.
¹²On my right^(U) the tribe^[c] attacks;
    they lay snares^(V) for my feet,^(W)
    they build their siege ramps against me.^(X)
¹³They break up my road;^(Y)
    they succeed in destroying me.^(Z)
    ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
¹⁴They advance as through a gaping breach;^(AA)
    amid the ruins they come rolling in.
¹⁵Terrors^(AB) overwhelm me;^(AC)
    my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
    my safety vanishes like a cloud.^(AD)

¹⁶“And now my life ebbs away;^(AE)
    days of suffering grip me.^(AF)
¹⁷Night pierces my bones;
    my gnawing pains never rest.^(AG)
¹⁸In his great power^(AH) God becomes like clothing to me^[d];
    he binds me like the neck of my garment.
¹⁹He throws me into the mud,^(AI)
    and I am reduced to dust and ashes.^(AJ)

²⁰“I cry out to you,^(AK) God, but you do not answer;^(AL)
    I stand up, but you merely look at me.
²¹You turn on me ruthlessly;^(AM)
    with the might of your hand^(AN) you attack me.^(AO)
²²You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;^(AP)
    you toss me about in the storm.^(AQ)
²³I know you will bring me down to death,^(AR)
    to the place appointed for all the living.^(AS)

²⁴“Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man^(AT)
    when he cries for help in his distress.^(AU)
²⁵Have I not wept for those in trouble?^(AV)
    Has not my soul grieved for the poor?^(AW)
²⁶Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
    when I looked for light, then came darkness.^(AX)
²⁷The churning inside me never stops;^(AY)
    days of suffering confront me.^(AZ)
²⁸I go about blackened,^(BA) but not by the sun;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.^(BB)
²⁹I have become a brother of jackals,^(BC)
    a companion of owls.^(BD)
³⁰My skin grows black^(BE) and peels;^(BF)
    my body burns with fever.^(BG)
³¹My lyre is tuned to mourning,^(BH)
    and my pipe^(BI) to the sound of wailing.

Footnotes

Job 30:3 Or gnawed
Job 30:4 Or fuel
Job 30:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Job 30:18 Hebrew; Septuagint power he grasps my clothing

Proverbs 5

New International Version

Warning Against Adultery

5 My son,^(A) pay attention to my wisdom,
    turn your ear to my words^(B) of insight,
²that you may maintain discretion
    and your lips may preserve knowledge.
³For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;^(C)
⁴but in the end she is bitter as gall,^(D)
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
⁵Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.^(E)
⁶She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.^(F)

⁷Now then, my sons, listen^(G) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
⁸Keep to a path far from her,^(H)
    do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity^[a] to one who is cruel,
¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.^(I)
¹¹At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
¹²You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!^(J)
¹³I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴And I was soon in serious trouble^(K)
    in the assembly of God’s people.”^(L)

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
¹⁸May your fountain^(M) be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.^(N)
¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful deer^(O)—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
²⁰Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

²¹For your ways are in full view^(P) of the Lord,
    and he examines^(Q) all your paths.^(R)
²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;^(S)
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.^(T)
²³For lack of discipline they will die,^(U)
    led astray by their own great folly.^(V)