The Tradition of the Elders

7 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, ² they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. ³ (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands,^[a] thus observing the tradition of the elders,^{(A) 4} and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash,^[b] and there are also many other traditions that they observe: the washing of cups and pots and bronze kettles and beds.^[c])^{(B) 5} So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat with defiled hands?”^{(C) 6} He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

⁸ “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”^(E)

⁹ Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!^{(F) 10} For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’^{(G) 11} But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God^[d]),^{(H) 12} then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, ¹³ thus nullifying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”

¹⁴ Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”^[e]

¹⁷ When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ He said to them, “So, are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, ¹⁹ since it enters not the heart but the stomach and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. ²¹ For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly. ²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

²⁴ From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre.^[f] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, ²⁵ but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered him, “Sir,^[g] even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ And when she went home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

Jesus Cures a Deaf Man

³¹ Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went by way of Sidon toward the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. ³² They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.^{(I) 33} He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue.^{(J) 34} Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”^{(K) 35} And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.^{(L) 36} Then Jesus^[h] ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.^{(M) 37} They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

9 ¹ And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with^[a] power.”^(A)

The Transfiguration

² Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,^{(B) 3} and his clothes became dazzling bright, such as no one^[b] on earth could brighten them.^{(C) 4} And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. ⁵ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us set up three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”^{(D) 6} He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷ Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved;^[c] listen to him!”^{(E) 8} Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

The Coming of Elijah

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ¹⁰ So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. ¹¹ Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” ¹² He said to them, “Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.”

The Healing of a Boy with a Spirit

¹⁴ When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. ¹⁶ He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” ¹⁷ Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak, ¹⁸ and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid, and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.” ¹⁹ He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” ²⁰ And they brought the boy^[d] to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy,^[e] and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus^[f] asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, help us! Have compassion on us!” ²³ Jesus said to him, “If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out,^[g] “I believe; help my unbelief!” ²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” ²⁶ After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. ²⁸ When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”^{(F) 29} He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.”^[h]

Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection

³⁰ They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it, ³¹ for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”^{(G) 32} But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.^(H)

Who Is the Greatest?

³³ Then they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” ³⁴ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.^{(I) 35} He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”^{(J) 36} Then he took a little child and put it among them, and taking it in his arms he said to them,^{(K) 37} “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”^(L)

Another Exorcist

³⁸ John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,^[i] and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”^{(M) 39} But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰ Whoever is not against us is for us.^{(N) 41} For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.^(O)

Temptations to Sin

⁴² “If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me^[j] to sin,^[k] it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.^{(P) 43} If your hand causes you to sin,^[l] cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell,^[m] to the unquenchable fire.^{[n](Q) 45} And if your foot causes you to sin,^[o] cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.^{[p][q](R) 47} And if your eye causes you to sin,^[r] tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,^{[s](S) 48} where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.^(T)

⁴⁹ “For everyone will be salted with fire.^{[t](U) 50} Salt is good, but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?^[u] Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”^(V)

Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples^{(A) 2} and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this: ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’ ” ⁴ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it,^{(B) 5} some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶ They told them what Jesus had said, and they allowed them to take it. ⁷ Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. ⁹ Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

¹¹ Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple, and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.^(D)

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

¹² On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³ Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.^{(E) 14} He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹⁵ Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves, ¹⁶ and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷ He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written,

¹⁸ And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him, for they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.^{(G) 19} And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples^[a] went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

²⁰ In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.^{(H) 21} Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”^{(I) 22} Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.^{[b](J) 23} Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.^{(K) 24} So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received^[c] it, and it will be yours.^(L)

²⁵ “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”^[d](M)

Jesus’s Authority Is Questioned

²⁷ Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him ²⁸ and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” ²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” ³¹ They argued with one another, “What should we say?^[e] If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet.^{(N) 33} So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”