Mark 7
7
1 And the Pharisees and some of the scribes, arriving from Jerusalem, gathered together before him.
2 And when they had seen certain ones from his disciples eating bread with common hands, that is, with unwashed hands, they disparaged them.
3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat without repeatedly washing their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders.
4 And when returning from the market, unless they wash, they do not eat. And there are many other things which have been handed down to them to observe: the washings of cups, and pitchers, and bronze containers, and beds.
5 And so the Pharisees and the scribes questioned him: "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but they eat bread with common hands?"
6 But in response, he said to them: "So well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, just as it has been written: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 And in vain do they worship me, teaching the doctrines and precepts of men.'
8 For abandoning the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men, to the washing of pitchers and cups. And you do many other things similar to these."
9 And he said to them: "You effectively nullify the precept of God, so that you may observe your own tradition.
10 For Moses said: 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Whoever will have cursed father or mother, let him die a death.'
11 But you say, 'If a man will have said to his father or mother: Korban, (which is a gift) whatever is from me will be to your benefit,'
12 then you do not release him to do anything for his father or mother,
13 rescinding the word of God through your tradition, which you have handed down. And you do many other similar things in this way."
14 And again, calling the crowd to him, he said to them: "Listen to me, all of you, and understand.
15 There is nothing from outside a man which, by entering into him, is able to defile him. But the things which procede from a man, these are what pollute a man.
16 Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
17 And when he had entered into the house, away from the crowd, his disciples questioned him about the parable.
18 And he said to them: "So, are you also without prudence? Do you not understand that everything entering to a man from outside is not able to pollute him?
19 For it does not enter into his heart, but into the gut, and it exits into the sewer, purging all foods."
20 "But," he said "the things which go out from a man, these pollute a man.
21 For from within, from the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 thefts, avarice, wickedness, deceitfulness, homosexuality, an evil eye, blasphemy, self-exaltation, foolishness.
23 All these evils procede from within and pollute a man."
24 And rising up, he went from there to the area of Tyre and Sidon. And entering into a house, he intended no one to know about it, but he was not able to remain hidden.
25 For a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit, as soon as she heard about him, entered and fell prostrate at his feet.
26 For the woman was a Gentile, by birth a Syro-Phoenician. And she petitioned him, so that he would cast the demon from her daughter.
27 And he said to her: "First allow the sons to have their fill. For it is not good to take away the bread of the sons and throw it to the dogs."
28 But she responded by saying to him: "Certainly, Lord. Yet the young dogs also eat, under the table, from the crumbs of the children."
29 And he said to her, "Because of this saying, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter."
30 And when she had gone to her house, she found the girl lying on the bed; and the demon had gone away.
31 And again, departing from the borders of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the area of the Ten Cities.
32 And they brought someone who was deaf and mute to him. And they begged him, so that he would lay his hand upon him.
33 And taking him away from the crowd, he put his fingers into his ears; and spitting, he touched his tongue.
34 And gazing up to heaven, he groaned and said to him: "Ephphatha," which is, "Be opened."
35 And immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke correctly.
36 And he instructed them not to tell anyone. But as much as he instructed them, so much more did they preach about it.
37 And so much more did they wonder, saying: "He has done all things well. He has caused both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
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Mark 7
7
The Source of Your Pollution
1-4The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. They noticed that some of his disciples weren’t being careful with ritual washings before meals. The Pharisees—Jews in general, in fact—would never eat a meal without going through the motions of a ritual hand-washing, with an especially vigorous scrubbing if they had just come from the market (to say nothing of the scourings they’d give jugs and pots and pans).
5The Pharisees and religion scholars asked, “Why do your disciples brush off the rules, showing up at meals without washing their hands?”
6-8Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact:
These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they are worshiping me,
but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy,
Ditching God’s command
and taking up the latest fads.”
9-13He went on, “Well, good for you. You get rid of God’s command so you won’t be inconvenienced in following the religious fashions! Moses said, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.’ But you weasel out of that by saying that it’s perfectly acceptable to say to father or mother, ‘Gift! What I owed you I’ve given as a gift to God,’ thus relieving yourselves of obligation to father or mother. You scratch out God’s Word and scrawl a whim in its place. You do a lot of things like this.”
14-15Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Listen now, all of you—take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it’s what you vomit—that’s the real pollution.”
17When he was back home after being with the crowd, his disciples said, “We don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”
18-19Jesus said, “Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you see that what you swallow can’t contaminate you? It doesn’t enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed.” (That took care of dietary quibbling; Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to eat.)
20-23He went on: “It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.”
* * *
24-26From there Jesus set out for the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house there where he didn’t think he would be found, but he couldn’t escape notice. He was barely inside when a woman who had a disturbed daughter heard where he was. She came and knelt at his feet, begging for help. The woman was Greek, Syro-Phoenician by birth. She asked him to cure her daughter.
27He said, “Stand in line and take your turn. The children get fed first. If there’s any left over, the dogs get it.”
28She said, “Of course, Master. But don’t dogs under the table get scraps dropped by the children?”
29-30Jesus was impressed. “You’re right! On your way! Your daughter is no longer disturbed. The demonic affliction is gone.” She went home and found her daughter relaxed on the bed, the torment gone for good.
31-35Then he left the region of Tyre, went through Sidon back to Galilee Lake and over to the district of the Ten Towns. Some people brought a man who could neither hear nor speak and asked Jesus to lay a healing hand on him. He took the man off by himself, put his fingers in the man’s ears and some spit on the man’s tongue. Then Jesus looked up in prayer, groaned mightily, and commanded, “Ephphatha!—Open up!” And it happened. The man’s hearing was clear and his speech plain—just like that.
36-37Jesus urged them to keep it quiet, but they talked it up all the more, beside themselves with excitement. “He’s done it all and done it well. He gives hearing to the deaf, speech to the speechless.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.