The Tradition of the Elders

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

2Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with ceremonially unclean, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.

3For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands with their fist, holding the tradition of the elders.

4And coming from the marketplace, unless they bathe, they do not eat. And there are many other things which they have received by tradition, like the washing of cups and pitchers, copper vessels and couches.

5Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but they eat bread with unwashed hands?”

6And answering He said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.

7And in vain they worship Me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8For having left the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other similar things you do.”

9And He said to them, “Well do you set aside the commandment of God, so that you may keep your tradition.

10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.’

11But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or to his mother, “Whatever you might be profited by me is Corban” ’—(that is, a gift),

12then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother,

13thus nullifying the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down. And many similar things you do.”

14And having summoned all the crowd, He said to them, “Hear Me, all of you and understand:

15There is nothing from outside a man, that entering into him, can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.

16If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

17When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples were asking Him about the parable.

18So He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Do you not understand that everything entering a man from outside cannot defile him,

19because it does not enter into his heart but into his stomach, and passes into the latrine, thus purifying all foods?”

20And He said, “That which comes out of a man, that defiles a man.

21For from within, out of the heart of men, come forth evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

22thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, arrogance, foolishness.

23All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

The Syro-Phoenician Woman's Faith

24From there He arose and He went away into the region of Tyre and Sidon. And having entered into a house, He wanted no one to know it, but He was not able to escape notice.

25For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.

26Now the woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by race, and she was asking Him to cast the demon out from her daughter.

27But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.”

28And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs underneath the table eat from the crumbs of the children.”

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

30And going away to her house, she found the demon having gone out, and her daughter having been placed on the bed.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

31Again, coming out from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He went to the Sea of Galilee, in the midst of the region of Decapolis.

32Then they brought to Him a deaf man impeded in speech, and they begged Him that He would lay His hand upon him.

33And when he had taken him aside from the crowd privately, He put His fingers in his ears, and having spit, He touched his tongue.

34Then looking up into heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”

35Immediately his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he was speaking correctly.

36And He ordered them that they should tell no one; but the more He ordered them, the more exceedingly they would proclaim it.

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