Mark 7-8

Tree of Life Version

Hearts Harden

7 Now the Pharisees and some of the Torah scholars who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Yeshua. ² And they saw that some of His disciples were eating bread with unclean hands, that is, not washed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all Jewish people do not eat unless they wash their hands up to the elbow, keeping the tradition of the elders. ⁴ And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing.^[a] There are many other traditions they have received and hold, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels.)^[b]

⁵ The Pharisees and Torah scholars questioned Yeshua, “Why don’t Your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders? Why do they eat bread with unwashed hands?”

⁶ And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written,

⁸ Having left behind the commandment of God, you hold on to the tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also telling them, “You set aside the commands of God, in order that you may validate your own tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.’ ^{[d] 11} But you say if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever you might have gained from me is korban (that is, an offering to God),’ ¹² then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, ¹³ making void the word of God with your tradition that you’ve handed down. And you do many such things.”^[e]

¹⁴ Then Yeshua called the crowd again and began saying to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand. ¹⁵ There is nothing outside the man that can make him unholy by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of the man that makes the man unholy.” ^{[f] (16) [g]}

¹⁷ When He had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He said to them, “Are you then also lacking understanding? Don’t you grasp that whatever goes into the man cannot make him unholy? ¹⁹ For it does not enter into the heart but into the stomach, and then goes out into the sewer, cleansing all foods.”^[h]

²⁰ And He continued, “It is what comes out of the man that makes the man unholy. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, come evil intentions, sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustfulness, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and make the man unholy.”

Miracles Touch Gentile Lives

²⁴ Yeshua got up and left from there to the region of Tyre. When He had entered a house, He didn’t want anyone to know; but He couldn’t escape notice. ²⁵ A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him. She came immediately and fell at His feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Greek, from Syrophoenicia. And she kept begging Yeshua to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ He was telling her, “First let the children get their fill, for it’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸ “Yes, Master,” she said to Him, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ Then He said to her, “Because of this word, go your way! The demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ She went home and found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

³¹ Again He left the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis. ³² They bring Him a deaf man who had a speech impediment, and they beg Him to lay His hand on him. ³³ Yeshua took him aside from the crowd to a private place, and He put His fingers in the man’s ears. After spitting, He touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ Looking up to heaven, He says to the man, “Ephphatha,”^[i] which means “Be opened!”

³⁵ Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak plainly. ³⁶ Yeshua ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them, the more they continued proclaiming it. ³⁷ People were completely astounded, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

Do You Still Not Understand?

8 In those days, there was another large crowd with nothing to eat, and Yeshua called the disciples. He said to them, ² “I have compassion for the crowd, because they’ve stayed with Me for three days now and have nothing to eat. ³ If I send them home hungry they’ll pass out on the way, for some of them have come from very far away.”

⁴ His disciples answered Him, “How can anyone satisfy these people with bread here in a wasteland?”

⁵ “How many loaves do you have?” Yeshua was asking them.

“Seven,” they said.

⁶ He directed the crowd to recline on the ground. After taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, He broke them and began giving them to His disciples to serve; and they served them to the crowd. ⁷ They also had a few small fish and, after offering a bracha for them, He commanded these to be served as well. ⁸ They ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over—seven baskets. ⁹ About four thousand^[j] were there, and Yeshua sent them away.

¹⁰ Right away, He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the area of Dalmanutha. ¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him, demanding a sign from heaven, to test Him. ¹² Sighing deeply in His spirit, Yeshua said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Amen, I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³ Leaving them, He got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.

The Un-Seeing Disciples

¹⁴ Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they had only one loaf in the boat. ¹⁵ Yeshua was warning them, “Watch out! Beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and the hametz of Herod.”

¹⁶ They began to discuss with each other that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And Yeshua, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss that you have no bread? You still don’t get it? Don’t you understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, don’t you see? And having ears, don’t you hear? And don’t you remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they say to Him.

²⁰ “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

“Seven,” they say to Him.

²¹ He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

Eyes that Need Opening

²² They come to Bethsaida. Some people bring a blind man to Yeshua and beg Him to touch the man. ²³ Taking the blind man by the hand, Yeshua brought him outside the village. After spitting on the man’s eyes and laying His hands on him, Yeshua asked the man, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴ The man looked up and said, “I see men! They look like trees walking about.” ²⁵ Then Yeshua put His hands on the man’s eyes again. The man looked intently, his sight was restored, and he began to see everything clearly.

²⁶ Yeshua sent him straight home, saying, “Don’t even enter the village!”

²⁷ Now Yeshua and His disciples went out to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

²⁸ They told Him, “John the Immerser; and others Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”^[k]

²⁹ Then He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered Him, “You are the Messiah!” ³⁰ And He warned them not to tell anyone about Him.

Revealing the Mission

³¹ Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and ruling kohanim and Torah scholars, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ^{[l] 32} He was speaking openly about this. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. He said, “Get behind Me, satan! You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of men.”

³⁴ Then He called the crowd, along with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and keep following Me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the sake of the Good News will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what could a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels!”