Markus 7 | New International Reader’s Version

What makes people ‘unclean’?

1 The Pharisees gathered around Jesus. So did some of the teachers of the law. All of them had come from Jerusalem. 2 They saw some of his disciples eating food with ‘unclean’ hands. That means they were not washed. 3 The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands to make them ‘clean’. That’s what the elders teach. 4 When they come from the market, they do not eat unless they wash. And they follow many other teachings. For example, they wash cups, pitchers, and kettles in a special way. 5 So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law questioned Jesus. ‘Why don’t your disciples live by what the elders teach?’ they asked. ‘Why do they eat their food with “unclean” hands?’ 6 He replied, ‘Isaiah was right. He prophesied about you people who pretend to be good. He said, ‘ “These people honour me by what they say. But their hearts are far away from me. 7 Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me. They teach nothing but human rules.” 8 You have let go of God’s commands. And you are holding on to teachings that people have made up.’ 9 Jesus continued speaking, ‘You have a fine way of setting aside God’s commands! You do this so you can follow your own teachings. 10 Moses said, “Honour your father and mother.” He also said, “Anyone who asks for bad things to happen to their father or mother must be put to death.” 11 But you allow people to say that what might have been used to help their parents is Corban. Corban means A Gift Set Apart for God. 12 So you no longer let them do anything for their parents. 13 You make the word of God useless by putting your own teachings in its place. And you do many things like this.’ 14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, ‘Listen to me, everyone. Understand this. 15 Nothing outside of a person can make them “unclean” by going into them. It is what comes out of them that makes them “unclean”. ’ 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 a person from the outside can make them “unclean”. 19 It doesn’t go into their heart. It goes into their 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 a person is what makes them “unclean”. 21 Evil thoughts come from the inside, from a person’s heart. So do sexual sins, stealing and murder. 22 Adultery, greed, hate and cheating come from a person’s heart 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 these evil things come from inside a person and make them “unclean”. ’

Jesus honours a Greek woman’s faith

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 the dogs.’ 28 ‘Lord’, she replied, ‘even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ 29 Then he told her, ‘That was a good reply. You may go. The demon has left your daughter.’ 30 So she went home and found her child lying on the bed. And the demon was gone.

Jesus heals a man who could not hear or speak

31 Then Jesus left the area of Tyre and went through Sidon. He went down to the Sea of Galilee and into the area known as the Ten Cities. 32 There some people brought a man to Jesus. The man was deaf and could hardly speak. They begged Jesus to place his hand on the man. 33 Jesus took the man to one side, away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spat and touched the man’s tongue. 34 Jesus looked up to heaven. With a deep sigh, he said to the man, ‘Ephphatha!’ That means ‘Be opened!’ 35 The man’s ears were opened. His tongue was freed up, and he began to speak clearly. 36 Jesus ordered the people not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were really amazed. ‘He has done everything well,’ they said. ‘He even makes deaf people able to hear. And he makes those who can’t speak able to talk.’

English Standard Version

Traditions and Commandments

1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,* holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.* And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.*) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)*— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

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

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.* And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus* charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Markus 7 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version