Mark 7

The Tradition of the Elders

1Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, 2they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. 3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands,a observing the tradition of the elders; 4and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purifyb themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.c) 5And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not lived according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?" 6And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

8You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men."

9And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! 10For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die'; 11but you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban' (that is, given to God)e-12then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do."

14And he called the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him."f 17And when he had entered the house, and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, 19since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?"g (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20And he said, "What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. 21For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, 22coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."

The Syrophoenician Woman's Faith

24And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.h And he entered a house, and would not have any one know it; yet he could not be hid. 25But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoeni'cian by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27And he said to her, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 28But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29And he said to her, "For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter." 30And she went home, and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone.

Jesus Cures a Deaf Man

31Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decap'olis. 32And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. 33And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; 34and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, "Eph'phatha," that is, "Be opened." 35And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."