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14 Then[a] he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand. 15 There is nothing outside of a person that can defile him by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles him.”[b]

17 Now[c] when Jesus[d] had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Are you so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him? 19 For it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes out into the sewer.”[e] (This means all foods are clean.)[f] 20 He said, “What comes out of a person defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. 23 All these evils come from within and defile a person.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 7:14 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  2. Mark 7:15 tc Most later mss add 7:16 “Let anyone with ears to hear, listen.” This verse is included in A D W Θ ƒ1,13 33 M latt sy, but is lacking in significant Alexandrian mss and a few others (א B L Δ* 0274 28). It appears to be a scribal gloss (see 4:9 and 4:23), perhaps introduced as a reiteration of the thought in 7:14, and is almost certainly not an original part of the Greek text of Mark. The present translation follows NA28 in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.
  3. Mark 7:17 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
  4. Mark 7:17 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  5. Mark 7:19 tn Or “into the latrine.”
  6. Mark 7:19 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.[a]

17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

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Footnotes

  1. 7:15 Some manuscripts add verse 16, Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Compare 4:9, 23.