Read the Bible

God's Commandments, Man's Traditions

^1 (C1)And the Pharisees and some of the scribes ^(*)gathered around Him when they had come ^(C2)from Jerusalem,² and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with ^(C1)defiled hands, that is, unwashed.³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they ^(F1)carefully wash their hands, thus observing the ^(C1)tradition of the elders;⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they ^(F1)wash themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of ^(C1)cups and pitchers and copper pots.)⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes ^(*)asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the ^(C1)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with ^(C2)defiled hands?"⁶ And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

'^(C1)THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

⁷ '^(C1)BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDS OF MEN.'

⁹ And He was also saying to them, "You are good at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your ^(C1)tradition.¹⁰ "For Moses said, '^(C1)HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER'; and, '^(C2)HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO ^(F1)BE PUT TO DEATH';¹¹ but you say, 'If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever you might benefit from me is ^(C1)Corban (that is to say, ^(F1)given to God),'¹² you no longer leave him to do anything for his father or his mother;¹³ thus invalidating the word of God by your ^(C1)tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that."

The Heart of Man

¹⁴ And after He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, "Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:¹⁵ there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.^16 (F1)["And if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."]

¹⁷ And when He had left the crowd and entered ^(C1)the house, ^(C2)His disciples were asking Him about the parable.¹⁸ And He ^(*)said to them, "Are you lacking understanding in this way as well? Do you not ^(F1)perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and goes to the sewer?" (Thus He declared ^(C1)all foods ^(C2)clean.)²⁰ And He was saying, "^(C1)That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.²¹ "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries,²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, ^(F1)(C1)envy, slander, ^(F2)pride, and foolishness.²³ "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

A Gentile Woman's Faith

^24 (C1)Now Jesus stood up and went away from there to the region of ^(C2)Tyre^(F1). And when He had entered a house, He was wanting no one to know of it; ^(F2)yet He could not escape notice.²⁵ But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet.²⁶ Now the woman was a ^(F1)Greek, of Syrophoenician descent. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.²⁷ And He was saying to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not ^(F1)good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."²⁸ But she answered and ^(*)said to Him, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs."²⁹ And He said to her, "Because of this ^(F1)answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter."³⁰ And going back to her home, she found the child ^(F1)lying on the bed, the demon having left.

The Deaf Hear, the Mute Speak

^31 (C1)And again He went out from the region of ^(C2)Tyre, and came through Sidon to ^(C3)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the ^(C4)Decapolis.³² And they ^(*)brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they ^(*)pleaded with Him to ^(C1)lay His hand on him.^33 (C1)And Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after ^(C1)spitting, He touched his tongue;³⁴ and looking up to heaven with a ^(C1)sigh, He ^(*)said to him, "Ephphatha!" that is, "Be opened!"³⁵ And his ears were opened, and the ^(F1)impediment of his tongue ^(F2)was removed, and he began speaking plainly.³⁶ And ^(C1)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He was ordering them, the more widely they ^(C2)continued to proclaim it.³⁷ And they were utterly astonished, saying, "He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."