Mark 7–8

Traditions and Commandments

7^pNow when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes ^qwho had come from Jerusalem, ²they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were ^rdefiled, that is, unwashed. ³(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,¹ holding to ^sthe tradition of ^tthe elders, ⁴and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.² And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as ^uthe washing of ^vcups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.³) ⁵And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to ^sthe tradition of ^tthe elders, ^wbut eat with ^rdefiled hands?” ⁶And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you ^xhypocrites, as it is written,

^y“ ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

⁷in vain do they worship me,

teaching as ^zdoctrines the commandments of men.’

⁸You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

⁹And he said to them, “You have a fine way of ^arejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! ¹⁰For Moses said, ^b‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^c‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ ¹¹But 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)⁴— ¹²then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, ¹³thus ^dmaking void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

¹⁴And he called the people to him again and said to them, ^e“Hear me, all of you, and understand: ^15fThere 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.”^{5 17}And when he had entered ^gthe house and left the people, ^hhis disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸And he said to them, “Then ⁱare you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹since it enters not his heart ^jbut his stomach, and is expelled?”⁶ (^kThus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰And he said, ^l“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, ^mmurder, adultery, ²²coveting, wickedness, deceit, ⁿsensuality, ^oenvy, ^pslander, ^qpride, ^rfoolishness. ^23sAll these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

²⁴And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.⁷ And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. ²⁵But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. ^26tNow the woman was a ^uGentile, ^va Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷And he said to her, “Let the children be ^wfed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and ^xthrow it to the dogs.” ²⁸But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s ^ycrumbs.” ²⁹And he said to her, “For this statement you may ^zgo your way; the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

^31aThen he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to ^bthe Sea of Galilee, in the region of the ^cDecapolis. ³²And they brought to him ^da man who was deaf and ^dhad a speech impediment, and they begged him to ^elay his hand on him. ³³And ^ftaking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and ^fafter spitting touched his tongue. ³⁴And ^glooking up to heaven, ^hhe sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” ^35dAnd his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶And ⁱJesus⁸ charged them to tell no one. But ^jthe more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷And they were ^kastonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

8^lIn those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, ^2m“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. ³And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” ⁴And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” ⁵And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, ⁿ“Seven.” ⁶And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and ^ohaving given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. ⁷And they had a few small fish. And ^phaving blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. ⁸And ^qthey ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, ⁿseven baskets full. ⁹And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. ¹⁰And immediately he got into ^rthe boat with his disciples and went to the district of ^sDalmanutha.¹

The Pharisees Demand a Sign

^11tThe Pharisees came and began to argue with him, ^useeking from him ^va sign from heaven ^wto test him. ¹²And ^xhe sighed deeply ^yin his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³And ^zhe left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod

¹⁴Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; ^abeware of ^bthe leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of ^cHerod.”^{2 16}And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷And ^dJesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? ^eDo you not yet perceive ^for understand? ^fAre your hearts hardened? ^18gHaving eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹When I broke ^hthe five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” ²⁰“And ⁱthe seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” ²¹And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²²And they came ^jto Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. ²³And ^khe took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when ^khe had ^lspit on his eyes and ^mlaid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” ²⁵Then Jesus³ laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶And he sent him to his home, saying, ⁿ“Do not even enter the village.”

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

^27oAnd Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸And they told him, ^p“John the Baptist; and others say, ^qElijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, ^r“You are ^sthe Christ.” ^30tAnd he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

^31uAnd he began to teach them that ^vthe Son of Man must ^wsuffer many things and ^xbe rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and ^yafter three days rise again. ³²And he said this ^zplainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ^a“Get behind me, Satan! For you ^bare not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

³⁴And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^cdeny himself and ^dtake up his cross and follow me. ³⁵For ^dwhoever would save his life⁴ will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake ^eand the gospel’s will save it. ^36fFor what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷For ^gwhat can a man give in return for his soul? ³⁸For ^hwhoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this ⁱadulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed ^jwhen he comes in the glory of his Father with ^kthe holy angels.”