Mark 7
International Children’s Bible
Obey God’s Law Not Men’s
7 Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem. They gathered around Jesus. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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])
5 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?”
6 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.
7 Their worship of me is worthless.
The things they teach are nothing
but human rules they have memorized.’ Isaiah 29:13
8 You have stopped following the commands of God. Now you only follow the teachings of men.”[b]
9 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
- 7:4 pots Some Greek copies continue, “and dining couches.”
- 7:8 teachings of men Some Greek copies continue, “You wash pitchers and jugs and do many other such things.”
- 7:10 ‘Honor . . . mother.’ Quotation from Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16.
- 7:10 ‘Anyone . . . death.’ Quotation from Exodus 21:17.
- 7:16 Let . . . listen. Some Greek copies do not contain the bracketed text.
- 7:24 Tyre Some Greek copies continue, “and Sidon.”
- 7:31 Ten Towns In Greek, called “Decapolis.” It was an area east of Lake Galilee that once had ten main towns.
Marco 7
La Nuova Diodati
7 Allora si riunirono intorno a lui i farisei e alcuni scribi venuti da Gerusalemme.
2 E, avendo visto che alcuni dei suoi discepoli mangiavano il cibo con le mani impure, cioè non lavate, li accusarono.
3 Infatti i farisei e tutti i Giudei non mangiano se non si sono prima lavate le mani con gran cura, attenendosi alla tradizione degli anziani;
4 e, quando tornano dalla piazza, non mangiano senza prima essersi purificati. Ci sono molte altre cose, che sono tenuti ad osservare per tradizione: lavatura di coppe, di brocche, di vasi di rame e di letti.
5 Poi i farisei e gli scribi gli domandarono: «Perché i tuoi discepoli non si comportano secondo la tradizione degli anziani, ma prendono il cibo senza lavarsi le mani?».
6 Ma egli, rispondendo, disse loro: «Ben profetizzò Isaia di voi, ipocriti, come sta scritto: "Questo popolo mi onora con le labbra, ma il loro cuore è lontano da me.
7 Ma invano mi rendono un culto, insegnando dottrine che sono precetti di uomini"
8 Trascurando infatti il comandamento di Dio, vi attenete alla tradizione degli uomini: lavatura di brocche e di coppe; e fate molte altre cose simili».
9 Disse loro ancora: «Voi siete abili nell'annullare il comandamento di Dio, per osservare la vostra tradizione.
10 Mosé infatti ha detto: "onora tuo padre e tua madre" e: "chi maledice il padre o la madre sia messo a morte".
11 Ma voi dite: "Se un uomo dice a suo padre o a sua madre: Tutto quello con cui potrei assisterti è Corban cioè un'offerta a Dio",
12 non gli lasciate piú far nulla per suo padre o per sua madre,
13 annullando cosí la parola di Dio con la vostra tradizione, che voi avete tramandata. E fate molte altre cose simili».
14 Poi, chiamata a sé tutta la folla, disse loro: «Ascoltatemi tutti ed intendete:
15 Non c'è nulla di esterno all'uomo che, entrando in lui, possa contaminarlo; sono invece le cose che escono da lui che lo contaminano.
16 Chi ha orecchi da udire, oda!».
17 Quando poi egli fu rientrato in casa, lontano dalla folla, i suoi discepoli lo interrogarono sul significato della parabola.
18 Ed egli disse loro: «Siete anche voi cosí privi d'intelligenza? Non capite voi che tutto ciò che dal di fuori entra nell'uomo non può contaminarlo,
19 perché non entra nel suo cuore, ma nel ventre, e poi se ne va nella fogna?». Cosí dicendo, dichiarava puri tutti gli alimenti.
20 Disse ancora: «Ciò che esce dall'uomo, quello lo contamina.
21 Dal di dentro infatti, cioè dal cuore degli uomini, procedono pensieri malvagi, adultéri, fornicazioni, omicidi,
22 furti, cupidigie, malizie, frodi, insolenza, invidia, bestemmia, orgoglio, stoltezza.
23 Tutte queste cose malvagie escono dal di dentro dell'uomo e lo contaminano».
24 Poi partí di là e andò nel territorio di Tiro e di Sidone, entrò in una casa e non voleva che alcuno lo sapesse, ma non potè restare nascosto.
25 Infatti una donna, la cui figlia aveva uno spirito immondo, avendo sentito parlare di Gesú, venne e gli si gettò ai piedi.
26 Or quella donna era greca, sirofenicia di origine, e lo pregava di scacciare il demone da sua figlia;
27 ma Gesú le disse: «Lascia che si sazino prima i figli, perché non è bene prendere il pane dei figli e gettarlo ai cagnolini».
28 Ma ella rispose e gli disse: «Dici bene, o Signore, ma anche i cagnolini sotto la tavola mangiano delle briciole dei figli».
29 Allora egli le disse: «Per questa tua parola, va il demone è uscito da tua figlia».
30 Ed ella, tornata a casa sua, trovò la figlia coricata a letto, e il demone era uscito da lei.
31 Poi Gesú, partito di nuovo dal territorio di Tiro e di Sidone, giunse al mare di Galilea, in mezzo al territorio della Decapoli.
32 E gli presentarono un sordo che parlava a stento, pregandolo di imporgli le mani.
33 Ed egli, condottolo in disparte, lontano dalla folla, gli mise le dita negli orecchi e, dopo aver sputato, gli toccò la lingua.
34 Poi, alzati gli occhi al cielo, sospirò e gli disse: «Effata», che vuol dire: «Apriti!».
35 E subito gli si aprirono gli orecchi si sciolse il nodo della sua lingua e parlava distintamente.
36 E Gesú ordinò loro di non dirlo a nessuno; ma quanto piú lo vietava loro, tanto piú essi lo divulgavano.
37 E, pieni di stupore, dicevano: «Egli ha fatto bene ogni cosa: egli fa udire i sordi e parlare i muti!».
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
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