Mark 7–8

The Traditions of the Elders

7The ^kPharisees ^land some of the scribes ^mwho had come from Jerusalem ⁿgathered around Him. ²They observed that some of His disciples were eating their bread with unclean ^o—that is, unwashed—hands. ³(For the Pharisees, in fact all the Jews, will not eat unless they wash their hands ritually, keeping the tradition of the elders. ⁴When they come from the marketplace, ^pthey do not eat unless they have washed. ^qAnd there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, jugs, copper utensils, and dining couches. ^rs) ⁵Then the Pharisees ^tand the scribes ^uasked Him, “Why don’t Your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, ^vinstead of eating bread with ritually unclean ^whands?”

⁶He answered them, “Isaiah ^xprophesied ^ycorrectly about you hypocrites, ^zas it is written: ^a

These people honor ^bMe with their lips,

but their heart is far from Me.

⁷They worship Me in vain,

teaching ^cas doctrines ^dthe commands ^eof men. ^fg

⁸Disregarding the command of God, you keep the tradition of men.” ^h9He also said to them, “You completely invalidate God’s command in order to maintain ⁱyour tradition! ¹⁰For Moses ^jsaid:

Honor your father and your mother; ^kl and

Whoever speaks evil of father or mother

must be put to death. ^mn

¹¹But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit ^oyou might have received from me is Corban’ ” (that is, a gift ^pcommitted to the temple), ¹²“you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. ¹³You revoke God’s word ^qby your tradition that you have handed ^rdown. And you do many other similar things.” ¹⁴Summoning ^sthe crowd again, He told them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ^t15Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. [¹⁶If anyone has ears to hear, he should listen!]” ^u

¹⁷When He went into the house away from the crowd, the disciples asked Him about the parable. ¹⁸And He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a man from the outside can defile him? ¹⁹For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach ^vand is eliminated.” ^w(As a result, He made all foods clean. ^xy) ²⁰Then He said, “What comes out of a person—that defiles him. ²¹For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, ^zthefts, murders, ^a22adulteries, ^bgreed, ^cevil actions, deceit, ^dpromiscuity, ^estinginess, ^fblasphemy, ^gpride, ^hand foolishness. ⁱ²³All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

A Gentile Mother’s Faith

²⁴He got up and departed from ^jthere to the region of Tyre ^kand Sidon. ^lmHe entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but He could not escape notice. ²⁵Instead, immediately after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit ⁿcame and fell at His feet. ^o26Now the woman was Greek, ^pa Syrophoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to drive the demon ^qout of her daughter. ²⁷He said to her, “Allow the children to be satisfied first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ^r

²⁸But she replied to Him, “Lord, ^seven the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹Then He told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.

Jesus Does Everything Well

³¹Again, leaving the region of Tyre, ^tHe went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, ^uthrough ^vthe region of the Decapolis. ^w32They brought to Him a deaf ^xman who also had a speech difficulty, ^yand begged Jesus to lay His hand on ^zhim. ³³So He took him away from the crowd privately. After putting His fingers in the man’s ears and spitting, ^aHe touched his tongue. ³⁴Then, looking up to heaven, ^bHe sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!” ^c(that is, “Be opened!”). ³⁵Immediately his ears were opened, ^dhis speech difficulty was removed, ^eand he began to speak clearly. ^f36Then He ordered them to tell no one, ^gbut the more He would order them, the more they would proclaim ^hit.

³⁷They were extremely astonished and said, “He has done everything well! ⁱHe even makes deaf ^jpeople hear, and people unable to speak, ^ktalk!”

Feeding 4,000

8In ^lthose days there was again a large crowd, and they had nothing to eat. He summoned ^mthe disciples ⁿand said to them, ²“I have compassion ^oon the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with Me three days and have nothing to eat. ³If I send them home hungry, ^pthey will collapse on the way, ^qand some of them have come a long distance.”

⁴His disciples answered Him, “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to fill ^rthese people?”

⁵“How many loaves do you have?” He asked them.

“Seven,” they said. ⁶Then He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks, broke ^sthe loaves, and kept on giving them to His disciples to set before the people. So they served the loaves to the crowd. ⁷They also had a few small fish, and when He had blessed them, He said these were to be served as well. ⁸They ate and were filled. Then they collected seven large baskets of leftover pieces. ⁹About 4,000 men were there. He dismissed them ¹⁰and immediately got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. ^t

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

¹¹The ^uPharisees ^vcame out and began to argue with Him, demanding of Him a sign ^wfrom heaven ^xto test ^yHim. ¹²But sighing deeply in His spirit, ^zHe said, “Why does this generation ^ademand a sign? ^•I assure you: ^bNo sign will be given to this generation!” ¹³Then He left them, got on board the boat again, and went to the other side.

¹⁴They had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵Then ^cHe commanded them: “Watch out! Beware of the yeast ^dof the Pharisees and the yeast of ^•Herod.” ^e

¹⁶They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. ¹⁷Aware of this, He said to them, “Why are you discussing that you do not have any bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Is your heart hardened? ^f18Do you have eyes, and not see, and do you have ears, and not hear? ^ghAnd do you not remember? ⁱ¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets full of pieces of bread did you collect?”

“Twelve,” they told Him.

²⁰“When I broke the seven loaves for the 4,000, how many large baskets full of pieces of bread did you collect?”

“Seven,” they said.

²¹And He said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?” ^j

Healing a Blind Man

²²Then they came to Bethsaida. ^kThey brought a blind ^lman to Him and begged Him to touch him. ²³He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting ^mon his eyes and laying His hands on ⁿhim, He asked him, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴He looked up and said, “I see people—they look to me like trees walking.” ^o

²⁵Again Jesus placed His hands on the man’s eyes, and he saw distinctly. He was cured and could see everything clearly. ²⁶Then He sent ^phim home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.” ^qr

Peter’s Confession of the Messiah

²⁷Jesus ^swent out with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

²⁸They answered Him, “John the Baptist; ^tothers, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.” ^u

²⁹“But you,” He asked them again, “who do you say that I am?”

Peter ^vanswered Him, “You are the Messiah!” ^w

³⁰And He strictly warned ^xthem to tell no one about Him.

His Death and Resurrection Predicted

³¹Then ^yHe began to teach them that the Son of Man ^zmust suffer many things and be rejected ^aby the elders, ^bthe chief priests, and the scribes, ^cbe killed, and rise ^dafter three days. ^e32He was openly talking about this. So Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

³³But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan, ^fbecause you’re not thinking about God’s concerns, ^gbut man’s!”

Take Up Your Cross

³⁴Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, ^htake up his cross, ⁱand follow Me. ^j35For whoever wants to save ^khis ^•life will lose it, ^lbut whoever loses ^mhis life ⁿbecause of Me ^oand the gospel ^pwill save it. ^q36For what does it benefit ^ra man to gain ^sthe whole world ^tyet lose ^uhis life? ^v37What can a man give in exchange for his life? ^w38For whoever is ashamed ^xof Me and of My words ^yin this adulterous and sinful ^zgeneration, ^athe Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory ^bof His Father ^cwith the holy ^dangels.” ^e