Mark 7:14–37

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!”