Mark 7:6-36 (New International Version)

6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: " 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'^a1 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."² 9 And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe^b your own traditions!³ 10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,'^c4 and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'^d5 11 But you say⁶ that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God⁷ by your tradition⁸ that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." 14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'^e " 17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him⁹ about this parable. 18 "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 19 For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods¹⁰ "clean.")¹¹ 20 He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed,¹² malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "

The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman

7:24-30pp -- Mt 15:21-28

24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.^f13 He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil^g spirit¹⁴ came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." 28 "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29 Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." 30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

The Healing of a Deaf and Mute Man

7:31-37pp -- Mt 15:29-31

31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre¹⁵ and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee¹⁶ and into the region of the Decapolis.^h17 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk,¹⁸ and they begged him to place his hand on¹⁹ the man. 33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit²⁰ and touched the man's tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven²¹ and with a deep sigh²² said to him, ""Ephphatha!"" (which means, "Be opened!"). 35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.²³ 36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone.²⁴ But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."