31 aAgain He went out from the region of bTyre, and came through Sidon to cthe Sea of Galilee, within the region of dDecapolis.

32 They * brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they * implored Him to alay His hand on him.

33 aJesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after aspitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva;

34 and looking up to heaven with a deep asigh, He * said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”

35 And his ears were opened, and the 1impediment of his tongue 2was removed, and he began speaking plainly.

36 And aHe gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they bcontinued to proclaim it.

37 They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Chapter 8

Four Thousand Fed

1 In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, aJesus called His disciples and * said to them,

2 “aI feel compassion for the 1people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat.

3 “If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.”

4 And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough 1bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?”

5 And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”

6 And He * directed the 1people to 2sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to 3serve to them, and they served them to the 1people.

7 They also had a few small fish; and aafter He had blessed them, He ordered these to be 1served as well.

8 And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large abaskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.

9 About four thousand were there; and He sent them away.

10 And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of aDalmanutha.