17
Then he left the crowd and entered the house. His disciples asked him about this teaching.
18
"Don't you understand?" Jesus asked. "Don't you see? Nothing that enters people from the outside can make them 'unclean.'
19
It doesn't go into the heart. It goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body." In saying this, Jesus was calling all foods "clean."
20
He went on to say, "What comes out of people makes them 'unclean.'
21
Evil thoughts come from the inside, from people's hearts. So do sexual sins, stealing and murder. Adultery,
22
greed, hate and cheating come from people's hearts too. So do desires that are not pure, and wanting what belongs to others. And so do telling lies about others and being proud and being foolish.
23
All those evil things come from inside a person. They make him 'unclean.' "
The Faith of a Greek Woman
24 Jesus went from there to a place near Tyre. He entered a house. He did not want anyone to know where he was. But he could not keep it a secret.
25
Soon a woman heard about him. An evil spirit controlled her little daughter. The woman came to Jesus and fell at his feet.
26
She 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. "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to their dogs."