Mark 7

₁Some Pharisees and several teachers of the Law of Moses from Jerusalem came and gathered around Jesus. ₂They noticed that some of his disciples ate without first washing their hands.

₃The Pharisees and many other Jewish people obey the teachings of their ancestors. They always wash their hands in the proper way before eating. ₄None of them will eat anything they buy in the market until it is washed. They also follow a lot of other teachings, such as washing cups, jugs, and bowls.

₅The Pharisees and teachers asked Jesus, “Why don't your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? Why do they eat without washing their hands?”

₆Jesus replied:

₁₄Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Pay attention and try to understand what I mean. _15-16The food that you put into your mouth doesn't make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.”

₁₇After Jesus and his disciples had left the crowd and had gone into the house, they asked him what these sayings meant. ₁₈He answered, “Don't you know what I am talking about by now? Surely you know that the food you put into your mouth cannot make you unclean. ₁₉It doesn't go into your heart, but into your stomach, and then out of your body.” By saying this, Jesus meant that all foods were fit to eat.

₂₀Then Jesus said:

₂₄Jesus left and went to the region near the city of Tyre, where he stayed in someone's home. He did not want people to know he was there, but they found out anyway. ₂₅A woman whose daughter had an evil spirit in her heard where Jesus was. And straight away she came and knelt down at his feet. ₂₆The woman was Greek and had been born in the part of Syria known as Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter. ₂₇But Jesus said, “The children must first be fed! It isn't right to take away their food and feed it to dogs.”

₂₈The woman replied, “Lord, even dogs eat the crumbs that children drop from the table.”

₂₉Jesus answered, “That's true! You may go now. The demon has left your daughter.” ₃₀When the woman got back home, she found her child lying on the bed. The demon had gone.

₃₁Jesus left the region around Tyre and went by way of Sidon towards Lake Galilee. He went through the land near the ten cities known as Decapolis. ₃₂Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They begged Jesus just to touch him.

₃₃After Jesus had taken him aside from the crowd, he stuck his fingers in the man's ears. Then he spat and put the spit on the man's tongue. ₃₄Jesus looked up towards heaven, and with a groan he said, “Effatha!” which means “Open up!” ₃₅At once the man could hear, and he had no more trouble talking clearly.

₃₆Jesus told the people not to say anything about what he had done. But the more he told them, the more they talked about it. ₃₇They were completely amazed and said, “Everything he does is good! He even heals people who cannot hear or talk.”