Jesus Heals a Deaf Man^(A)

³¹ Then Jesus left the area around Tyre and went through Sidon to Lake Galilee [^Tthe Sea of Galilee], to the area of ·the Ten Towns [or Decapolis; ^Can area east of Lake Galilee that once had ten main towns; 5:20]. ³² While he was there, some people brought a man to him who was deaf and ·could not talk plainly [had a speech impediment]. The people begged Jesus to put his hand on the man to heal him.

³³ Jesus led the man away from the crowd, by himself. He put his fingers in the man’s ears and then spit and touched the man’s tongue. [^CThe use of saliva is mentioned in other ancient accounts of healing, and elsewhere in the Gospels; see 8:23; John 9:6.] ³⁴ Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to the man, “Ephphatha!” (This means [^Cin Aramaic], “Be opened.”) ³⁵ Instantly the man was able to hear and to use his tongue so that he spoke clearly.

³⁶ Jesus ·commanded [ordered; instructed] the people not to tell anyone about what happened. But the more he ·commanded [ordered; instructed] them, the more they ·told about [proclaimed] it. ³⁷ They were completely amazed and said, “Jesus does everything well. He makes the deaf hear! And ·those who can’t talk [the mute] he makes able to speak.”