Mark 7
Legacy Standard Bible
God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions
7 (A)And the Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered around Him when they had come (B)from Jerusalem, 2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with (C)defiled hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they [a]carefully wash their hands, thus observing the (D)tradition of the elders; 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they [b]wash themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of (E)cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the (F)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with (G)defiled hands?” 6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘(H)This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
7 (I)But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commands of men.’
8 Leaving the commandment of God, you hold to the (J)tradition of men.”
9 And He was also saying to them, “You are good 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)He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to [c]be put to death’; 11 but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever you might benefit from me is (N)Corban (that is to say, [d]given to God),’ 12 you no longer leave him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thus 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 And 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 man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16 [e][And if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]
17 And when He had left the crowd and entered (P)the house, (Q)His disciples were asking Him about the parable. 18 And He *said to them, “Are you lacking understanding in this way as well? Do you not [f]perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and goes to the sewer?” (Thus He declared (R)all foods (S)clean.) 20 And He was saying, “(T)That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, [g](U)envy, slander, [h]pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
A Gentile Woman’s Faith
24 (V)Now Jesus stood up and went away from there to the region of (W)Tyre[i]. And when He had entered a house, He was wanting no one to know of it; [j]yet He could not escape notice. 25 But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. 26 Now the woman was a [k]Greek, of Syrophoenician descent. And she kept asking 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 [l]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the 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 [m]answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 And going back to her home, she found the child [n]lying on the bed, the demon having left.
The Deaf Hear, the Mute Speak
31 (X)And again He went out from the region of (Y)Tyre, and came through Sidon to (Z)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the (AA)Decapolis. 32 And they *brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they *pleaded with Him to (AB)lay His hand on him. 33 (AC)And Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after (AD)spitting, He touched his tongue; 34 and looking up to heaven with a (AE)sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 35 And his ears were opened, and the [o]impediment of his tongue [p]was removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36 And (AF)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He was ordering them, the more widely they (AG)continued to proclaim it. 37 And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
Footnotes
- Mark 7:3 Lit with the fist
- Mark 7:4 Ceremonial cleansing; lit baptizing
- Mark 7:10 Lit die the death
- Mark 7:11 An offering; or a gift
- Mark 7:16 Early mss omit this v
- Mark 7:18 Or understand; see Matt 15:17, but cf. Mark 8:17
- Mark 7:22 Lit an evil eye
- Mark 7:22 Or arrogance
- Mark 7:24 Two early mss add and Sidon
- Mark 7:24 Lit and
- Mark 7:26 Or Gentile
- Mark 7:27 Or proper
- Mark 7:29 Lit word
- Mark 7:30 Lit thrown
- Mark 7:35 Or bond
- Mark 7:35 Lit was loosed
Mark 7
GOD’S WORD Translation
Jesus Challenges the Pharisees’ Traditions(A)
7 The Pharisees and some experts in Moses’ Teachings who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. 2 They saw that some of his disciples were unclean [a] because they ate without washing their hands.
3 (The Pharisees, like all other Jewish people, don’t eat unless they have properly washed their hands. They follow the traditions of their ancestors. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they don’t eat unless they have washed first. They have been taught to follow many other rules. For example, they must also wash their cups, jars, brass pots, and dinner tables.[b])
5 The Pharisees and the experts in Moses’ Teachings asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples follow the traditions taught by our ancestors? They are unclean because they don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
6 Jesus told them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites in Scripture:
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship of me is pointless,
because their teachings are rules made by humans.’
8 “You abandon the commandments of God to follow human traditions.” 9 He added, “You have no trouble rejecting the commandments of God in order to keep your own traditions! 10 For example, Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a person tells his father or mother that whatever he might have used to help them is corban (that is, an offering to God), 12 he no longer has to do anything for his father or mother.’ 13 Because of your traditions you have destroyed the authority of God’s word. And you do many other things like that.”
14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand! 15 Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. It’s what comes out of a person that makes him unclean. 16 Let the person who has ears listen!” [c]
17 When he had left the people and gone home, his disciples asked him about this illustration.
18 Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand? Don’t you know that whatever goes into a person from the outside can’t make him unclean? 19 It doesn’t go into his thoughts but into his stomach and then into a toilet.” (By saying this, Jesus declared all foods acceptable.) 20 He continued, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes him unclean. 21 Evil thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, cursing, arrogance, and foolishness come from within a person. 23 All these evils come from within and make a person unclean.”
The Faith of a Greek Woman(B)
24 Jesus left that place and went to the territory of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know that he was staying in a house there. However, it couldn’t be kept a secret.
25 A woman whose little daughter had an evil spirit heard about Jesus. She went to him and bowed down. 26 The woman happened to be Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She asked him to force the demon out of her daughter.
27 Jesus said to her, “First, let the children eat all they want. It’s not right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
28 She answered him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat some of the children’s scraps.”
29 Jesus said to her, “Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter.”
30 The woman went home and found the little child lying on her bed, and the demon was gone.
Jesus Cures a Deaf Man
31 Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre. He went through Sidon and the territory of the Ten Cities [d] to the Sea of Galilee.
32 Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and who also had a speech defect. They begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. 33 Jesus took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. He put his fingers into the man’s ears, and after spitting, he touched the man’s tongue. 34 Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and said to the man, “Ephphatha!” which means, “Be opened!” 35 At once the man could hear and talk normally.
36 Jesus ordered the people not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them, the more they spread the news. 37 Jesus completely amazed the people. They said, “He has done everything well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute talk.”
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