Chronological
Obey God’s Law(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and ·teachers of the law [scribes] came to Jesus from Jerusalem. They asked him, 2 “Why don’t your ·followers [disciples] obey the ·unwritten laws which have been handed down to us [L traditions of the elders]? [L For] They don’t wash their hands before they eat [C a Jewish ritual for ceremonial purity].”
3 Jesus answered, “And why do you ·refuse to obey [break; violate] God’s command ·so that you can follow your own teachings [L for the sake of your traditions]? 4 God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother [Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16],’ and ‘Anyone who ·says cruel things to [speaks evil of; curses] his father or mother must be put to death [Ex. 21:17; Lev. 20:9].’ 5 But you say a person can tell his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you, but I have ·given [dedicated; devoted] it to God already [C a practice known as Corban; see Mark 7:10–12].’ 6 You teach that person ·not to [that he need not] honor his father or his mother. You ·rejected [invalidated; canceled; nullified] ·what God said [L the word of God] for the sake of your own ·rules [tradition]. 7 You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he ·said [L prophesied] about you:
8 ‘These people show honor to me with ·words [L their lips],
but their hearts are far from me.
9 Their worship of me is ·worthless [futile; in vain].
The things [doctrines] they teach are nothing but human ·rules [commandments; Is. 29:13].’”
10 After Jesus called the crowd to him, he said, “Listen and ·understand what I am saying [try to understand]. 11 It is not what ·people put into their mouths [L goes into the mouth] that ·makes them unclean [pollutes/defiles the person]. It is what comes out of their mouths that ·makes them unclean [pollutes/defiles the person].”
12 Then his ·followers [disciples] came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are ·angry [offended; shocked] because of what you said?”
13 Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted himself will be pulled up by the roots. 14 ·Stay away from the Pharisees [L Leave/Ignore them]; they are blind ·leaders [guides].[a] And if a blind person ·leads [guides] a blind person, both will fall into a ·ditch [pit; hole].”
15 Peter said, “Explain the ·example [parable] to us.”
16 Jesus said, “·Do you still not understand [L Are you still so dull/foolish]? 17 ·Surely you know [L Don’t you know…?] that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then goes ·out of the body [L into the sewer/latrine].” 18 But ·what people say with their mouths [L the things that come out of the mouth] comes from the ·way they think [L the heart]; these are the things that ·make people unclean [pollute/defiled a person]. 19 [L For] Out of the ·mind [heart] come evil ·thoughts [intentions; ideas], murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, ·lying [false witness/testimony], and ·speaking evil of others [slander; blasphemy]. 20 These things make people ·unclean [polluted; defiled]; eating with unwashed hands does not make them ·unclean [polluted; defiled].”
Jesus Helps a Gentile Woman(B)
21 Jesus left that place and went to the ·area [district; region] of Tyre and Sidon [C cities on the coast north of Israel]. 22 A ·Canaanite [C a non-Jewish (Gentile) resident of Palestine (Canaan was the ancient name for Palestine)] woman from that area came to Jesus and cried out, “Lord, Son of David [C a title for the Messiah], have mercy on me! My daughter ·has a demon, and she is suffering very much [is tormented; L is severely demon-possessed].”
23 But Jesus did not ·answer the woman [L answer her a word]. So his ·followers [disciples] came to Jesus and ·begged [asked; urged] him, “Tell the woman to go away. [L Because] She is following us and ·shouting [crying out].”
24 Jesus answered, “·God sent me [L I was sent] only to the lost sheep, the ·people [L house] of Israel.”
25 Then the woman came to Jesus again and bowed before him and said, “Lord, help me!”
26 Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and ·give [throw] it to the dogs.” [C “Children” refers to Israel; “dogs” to the Gentiles.]
27 The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered, “[L O] Woman, you have great faith! ·I will do what you asked [L Let it be done for you as you wish].” And ·at that moment [L from that hour] the woman’s daughter was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People(C)
29 After leaving there, Jesus went along ·the shore of Lake Galilee [T the Sea of Galilee]. He went up on ·a hill [or the mountain] and sat there.
30 Great crowds came to Jesus, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, ·those who could not speak [the mute/deaf; C the word can refer to speech or hearing; v. 31 suggests it here means “mute”], and many others. They ·put [laid] them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them. 31 The crowd was ·amazed [astonished; marveled] when they saw that ·people who could not speak before [the mute/deaf] were now able to speak. The crippled were ·made strong [well; whole]. The lame could walk, and the blind could see. And they ·praised [glorified] the God of Israel for this.
More than Four Thousand Fed(D)
32 Jesus called his ·followers [disciples] to him and said, “I ·feel sorry [have compassion] for these people, because they have already been with me three days, and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might ·faint [collapse] while going home.”
33 His ·followers [disciples] asked him, “·How [L From where] can we get enough bread in this ·remote place [desolate place; desert] to feed ·all these people [L so great a crowd]?”
34 Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 Jesus told the people to ·sit [recline] on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God. Then he ·divided the food [L broke them] and gave it to his ·followers [disciples], and they gave it to the people. 37 All the people ate and were satisfied. Then his ·followers [disciples] filled seven ·baskets [large baskets; C a different word than in the feeding of the five thousand; 14:20] with the leftover pieces of food. 38 There were about four thousand men there who ate, besides women and children. 39 After ·sending the people home [dismissing the crowds], Jesus got into the boat and went to the ·area [region] of Magadan [C an unknown place, probably on the western shore of Lake Galilee; perhaps Magdala, the hometown of Mary Magdalene].
The Things that Truly Please God(A)
7 When some Pharisees and some ·teachers of the law [scribes] came from Jerusalem, they gathered around Jesus. 2 They saw that some of Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] ate food with hands that were not clean, that is, they hadn’t [ceremonially] washed them. 3 ([For] The Pharisees and all the Jews never eat before washing their hands ·in the way required [L with a fist; C the meaning of the idiom is uncertain; it could mean “with a handful of water,” “with cupped hand,” “up to the wrist” or something else] by ·their unwritten laws [L the traditions of the elders]. 4 ·And when they buy something in the market, they never eat it [or, And when they come from the market (where they might have touched something “unclean”), they do not eat] until they wash themselves in a special way. They also ·follow [hold fast to; observe] many other ·unwritten laws [traditions], such as the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots.[a])
5 The Pharisees and the ·teachers of the law [scribes] asked Jesus, “Why don’t your ·followers [disciples] ·obey [walk according to] the ·unwritten laws which have been handed down to us [traditions of the elders]? Why do they eat their food with hands that are ·not clean [defiled]?”
6 Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right when he ·spoke [prophesied] about you hypocrites. ·He wrote [As it is written],
‘These people show honor to me with ·words [L their lips],
but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship of me is ·worthless [futile; in vain].
The things they teach are nothing but human ·rules [commandments; Is. 29:13].’
8 You ·have stopped following [neglected; abandoned] the commands of God, and you ·follow [hold on to] only human ·teachings[b] [traditions].”
9 Then Jesus said to them, “You ·cleverly ignore [are very good at ignoring/despising] the commands of God so you can follow your own ·teachings [tradition]. 10 [For] Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ [Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16], and ‘Anyone who ·says cruel things to [speaks evil of; curses] his father or mother must be put to death’ [Ex. 21:17; Lev. 20:9]. 11 But you say a person can tell his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you, but it is Corban—a gift to God.’ [C Corban is a Hebrew term meaning dedicated or set aside to God.] 12 You no longer let that person ·use that money [do anything] for his father or his mother. 13 By your own ·rules [tradition], which you ·teach people [have handed down], you are ·rejecting [nullifying; canceling] what God said. And you do many things like that.”
14 After Jesus called the crowd to him again, he said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand what I am saying. 15 There is nothing people put into their bodies that ·makes them unclean [pollutes/defiles them]. [But rather] People are ·made unclean [polluted; defiled] by the things that come out of them. |16 ·Let those with ears use them and listen [see 4:23].|”[c]
17 When Jesus left the ·people [crowd] and went into the house, his ·followers [disciples] asked him about this ·story [parable; see 3:23]. 18 Jesus said, “·Do you still not understand [Are you so dull]? ·Surely you know [L Don’t you know…?] that nothing that enters someone from the outside can make that person ·unclean [polluted; defiled]. 19 [Because] It does not go into the ·mind [heart], but into the stomach. Then it goes ·out of the body [L into the sewer/latrine].” ·(When Jesus said this, he meant that no longer was any food unclean for people to eat.) [or, (In this way, Jesus cleansed all food.)]
20 And Jesus said, “The things that come out of people are the things that make them ·unclean [defiled]. 21 ·All these evil things begin inside people, in the mind [L For from within, out of human hearts, come]: evil ·thoughts [intentions; ideas], sexual sins, stealing, murder, adultery, 22 greed, ·evil actions [wickedness], ·lying [deceit], ·doing sinful things [indecency; lust; lewdness], ·jealousy [envy; L evil eye], ·speaking evil of others [slander; blasphemy], pride, and foolish living. 23 All these evil things come from inside and make people ·unclean [defiled].”
Jesus Helps a Gentile Woman(B)
24 Jesus left that place and went to the area around Tyre[d] [C a Gentile city on the coast north of Israel]. When he went into a house, he did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden. 25 A woman whose daughter had an ·evil [defiling; L unclean] spirit in her heard that he was there. So she ·quickly [immediately] came to Jesus and ·fell [bowed] at his feet. 26 She was ·Greek [a Gentile; C “Greek” is sometimes used for any non-Jew; Rom. 1:16], born in Phoenicia, in Syria. She ·begged [kept asking] Jesus to ·force [drive; cast] the demon out of her daughter.
27 Jesus told the woman, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and ·give [throw] it to the dogs. First let the children eat all they want.” [C “Children” refers to Israel; “dogs” to the Gentiles.]
28 But she answered, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table can eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then Jesus said, “Because of your 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(C)
31 Then Jesus left the area around Tyre and went through Sidon to Lake Galilee [T the Sea of Galilee], to the area of ·the Ten Towns [or Decapolis; C an 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. [C The 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 [C in 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.”
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