Mark 7

Modern

Literal

The Tradition of the Elders

¹Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus,

¹And the Pharisees and some of the scribes having come from Jerusalem are gathered together to Him.

²and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled—that is, unwashed.

²And they had seen some of His disciples, that with defiled hands—that is, unwashed—they are eating the loaves.

³Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat until they wash their hands ceremonially.^a

³(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash the hands to the fist, holding to the tradition of the elders;

⁴And on returning from the market, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions for them to observe, including the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and couches for dining.^a

⁴and coming from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they immerse; and there are many other things that they received to hold to—immersions of cups and pitchers and bronze vessels and couches.)

⁵So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands.”

⁵And the Pharisees and the scribes questioned Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat the bread with defiled hands?”

⁶Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘These people honor Me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from Me.

⁶And He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it has been written: ‘This people honors Me with the lips, but their heart is kept far away from Me;

⁷They worship Me in vain;

they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’^a

⁷and in vain they worship Me, teaching as teachings the precepts of men.’

⁸You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.”^a

⁸Having left the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

⁹He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain^a your own tradition.

⁹And He was saying to them, “Nobly do you set aside the commandment of God so that you might keep your tradition.

¹⁰For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’^a and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’^b

¹⁰For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘The one speaking evil of father or mother, in death let him end.’

¹¹But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God ),

¹¹But you say that if a man might say to the father or to the mother, ‘Whatever you might be profited from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift),

¹²he is no longer permitted to do anything for his father or mother.

¹²no longer do you permit him to do anything for the father or for the mother,

¹³Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”

¹³making void the word of God for your tradition, which you delivered. And you do many things as such.”

What Defiles a Man

¹⁴Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “All of you, listen to Me and understand:

¹⁴And having summoned the crowd again, He was saying to them, “Hear Me, all, and understand:

¹⁵Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”^a

¹⁵There is nothing from outside the man entering into him that is able to defile him; but the things proceeding out of the man are the things defiling the man.”

¹⁶—

¹⁷After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples inquired about the parable.

¹⁷And when He entered into the house from the crowd, His disciples were questioning Him about the parable.

¹⁸“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,

¹⁸And He says to them, “Thus are you also without understanding? Do you not understand that everything entering into the man from outside is not able to defile him,

¹⁹because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)^a

¹⁹because it does not enter into his heart, but into the belly, and goes out into the sewer?”—thus purifying all the foods.

²⁰He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him.

²⁰And He was saying, “That which is proceeding out of the man, that defiles the man.

²¹For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,^a

²¹For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil reasonings, sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adulteries,

²²greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.

²²covetous desires, wickednesses, deceit, sensuality, an evil eye, slander, pride, foolishness.

²³All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a man.”

²³All these evils proceed from within, and they defile the man.”

The Faith of the Gentile Woman

²⁴Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre.^a Not wanting anyone to know He was there, He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice.

²⁴And from there having risen up, He went away into the borders of Tyre. And having entered into a house, He was wanting no one to know it, and He was not able to be hidden.

²⁵Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit soon heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet.

²⁵But immediately, having heard about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having come, fell at His feet.

²⁶Now she was a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, and she kept asking Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁶Now the woman was a Greek, Syrophoenician by race, and she was asking Him that He might cast the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷“First let the children have their fill,” He said. “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁷And He was saying to her, “Permit the children first to be satisfied; for it is not good to take the bread of the children and to cast it to the dogs.”

²⁸“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs^a under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁸But she answered, and she says to Him, “Yes, Lord, even the dogs under the table eat from the crumbs of the children.”

²⁹Then Jesus told her, “Because of this answer, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.”

²⁹And He said to her, “Because of this word, go; the demon has gone forth out of your daughter.”

³⁰And she went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.

³⁰And having gone away to her house, she found the child laid on the bed, and the demon having gone out.

The Deaf and Mute Man

³¹Then Jesus left the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.^a

³¹And again, having gone out from the borders of Tyre, He went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of the Decapolis.

³²Some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him.

³²And they bring to Him a deaf man (and he spoke with difficulty), and they implore Him that He might lay the hand on him.

³³So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue.

³³And having taken him away from the crowd by himself, He put His fingers into his ears. And having spit, He touched his tongue.

³⁴And looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”).

³⁴And having looked up to heaven, He sighed deeply, and He says to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”)

³⁵Immediately^a the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly.

³⁵And his ears were opened, and immediately the band of his tongue was loosed, and he was speaking rightly.

³⁶Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them, the more widely they proclaimed it.

³⁶And He instructed them that they should tell no one. But as much as He was instructing them, they were proclaiming it more abundantly.

³⁷The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

³⁷And they were astonished above measure, saying, “He has done all things well! He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak!”