English Standard Version

New Living Translation

Traditions and Commandments

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,

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Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity

One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus.

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they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.

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They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating.

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(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,a holding to the tradition of the elders,

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(The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands,a as required by their ancient traditions.

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and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.b And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.c)

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Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their handsb in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to — such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.c)

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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?”

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So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

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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;

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Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.

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in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

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Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’d

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You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

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For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

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And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

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Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.

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For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’

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For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’e and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’f

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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)d —

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But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’g

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then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,

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In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents.

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thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

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And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

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What Defiles a Person

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand:

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Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand.

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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.”e

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It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.h”

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And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable.

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Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used.

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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,

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“Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you?

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since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”f (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

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Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

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And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.

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And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.

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For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

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For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

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coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.

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adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.

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All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

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All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

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The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.g And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.

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The Faith of a Gentile Woman

Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre.i He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret.

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But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.

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Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evilj spirit,

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Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

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and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.
Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia,

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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.”

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Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children — my own family, the Jews.k It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

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But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

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She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.”

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And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.”

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“Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.”

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And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

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And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

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Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.

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Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns.l

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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.

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A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.

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And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue.

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Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.

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And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”

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Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!”

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And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

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Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!

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And Jesush charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

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Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news.

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And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

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They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”

Parallel

English Standard Version

New Living Translation

Mark 7

Mark 7