Mark Chapter 7 (NIV)
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Clean and UncleanThe Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and
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saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed.
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(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.
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When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
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So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”
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He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:“‘These people honor me with their lips,but their hearts are far from me.
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They worship me in vain;their teachings are but rules taught by men.’
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You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”
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And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
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For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
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But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God),
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then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.
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Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
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Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.
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Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’”
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After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.
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“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’?
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For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)
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He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’
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For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
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greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
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All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”
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The Faith of a Syrophoenician WomanJesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.
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In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.
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The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
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“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”
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“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
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Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
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She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
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The Healing of a Deaf and Mute ManThen Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.
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There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.
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After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.
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He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”).
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At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
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Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.
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People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
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