Mark 7 (New American Standard)

Followers of Tradition

1 ¹The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come ²from Jerusalem, 2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with ³impure hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they ^acarefully wash their hands, thus observing the ⁴traditions of the elders ; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they ^bcleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the ^cwashing of ⁵cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the ⁶tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with ⁷impure hands ?" 6 And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written : '⁸THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 7 '⁹BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.' 8 "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the ¹⁰tradition of men." 9 He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your ¹¹tradition. 10 "For Moses said, '¹²HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER '; and, '¹³HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO ^dBE PUT TO DEATH '; 11 but you say, 'If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is ¹⁴Corban (that is to say, ^egiven to God),' 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother ; 13 thus invalidating the word of God by your ¹⁵tradition which you have handed down ; and you do many things such as that."

The Heart of Man

14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, "Listen to Me, all of you, and understand : 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16 ["^fIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."] 17 When he had left the crowd and entered ¹⁶the house, ¹⁷His disciples questioned Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also ? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and ^gis eliminated ?" (Thus He declared ¹⁸all foods ¹⁹clean.) 20 And He was saying, "²⁰That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, ^hfornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, ⁱ²¹envy , slander, ^jpride and foolishness. 23 "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

The Syrophoenician Woman

24 ²²Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of ²³Tyre ^k. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; ^lyet He could not escape notice. 25 But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. 26 Now the woman was a ^mGentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And He was saying to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not ⁿgood to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 28 But she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs." 29 And He said to her, "Because of this ^oanswer go ; the demon has gone out of your daughter." 30 And going back to her home, she found the child ^plying on the bed, the demon having left. 31 ²⁴Again He went out from the region of ²⁵Tyre, and came through Sidon to ²⁶the Sea of Galilee, within the region of ²⁷Decapolis. 32 They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to ²⁸lay His hand on him. 33 ²⁹Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after ³⁰spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34 and looking up to heaven with a deep ³¹sigh, He said to him, "Ephphatha !" that is, "Be opened !" 35 And his ears were opened, and the ^qimpediment of his tongue ^rwas removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36 And ³²He gave them orders not to tell anyone ; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they ³³continued to proclaim it. 37 They were utterly astonished, saying, "He has done all things well ; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."