Mark 7

Tradition and Defilement

1The Pharisees and some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. 2They saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled—that is, unwashed—hands. 3For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands carefully, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. There are many other traditions they have received and hold, including washings of cups, pitchers, and copper vessels. 5The Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with defiled hands?” 6He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied well about you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me; 7they worship me in vain,
teaching human commands as doctrines.’ 8You leave the commandment of God and hold on to human tradition.”

9He also said, “You have a fine way of setting aside God’s commandment in order to establish your tradition. 10Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 11But you say that if someone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever benefit you might have received from me is Corban’—that is, a gift devoted to God— 12then you no longer allow that person to do anything for father or mother. 13In this way you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

What Defiles a Person

14Jesus called the crowd again and said, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15nothing outside a person can defile that person by going in. Rather, the things that come out of a person are what defile.”

17When he entered the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Do you not understand that nothing entering a person from outside can defile them, 19because it does not enter the heart but the stomach and then goes out into the latrine?” Thus he made all foods clean. 20And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles the person. 21For from within, out of the human heart, come evil thoughts: sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22greed, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, an evil eye, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

24Jesus got up and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not remain hidden. 25Immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him, came, and fell at his feet. 26The woman was Greek, Syrophoenician by birth. She kept asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27Jesus said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28She answered him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29He said to her, “Because of this word, go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30She went home and found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

A Deaf Man Is Opened

31Jesus left the region of Tyre again and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. 32People brought him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. 33Jesus took him away from the crowd privately, put his fingers into the man’s ears, spat, and touched his tongue. 34Looking up to heaven, Jesus sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened.” 35Immediately his ears were opened, the bond of his tongue was released, and he began to speak clearly. 36Jesus ordered them to tell no one. But the more he ordered them, the more they proclaimed it. 37They were overwhelmed with amazement and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and those unable to speak talk.”