⁴⁵Right away Jesus made his disciples get into the boat. He had them go on ahead of him to Bethsaida. Then he sent the crowd away. ⁴⁶After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

⁴⁷When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was alone on land. ⁴⁸He saw the disciples pulling hard on the oars. The wind was blowing against them.

Early in the morning, he went out to them. He walked on the lake. When he was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹they saw him walking on the lake. They thought he was a ghost. They cried out. ⁵⁰They all saw him and were terrified.

Right away he said to them, “Be brave! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

⁵¹Then he climbed into the boat with them. The wind died down. And they were completely amazed. ⁵²They had not understood about the loaves. They were stubborn.

⁵³They crossed over the lake and landed at Gennesaret. There they tied up the boat. ⁵⁴As soon as Jesus and his disciples got out, people recognized him. ⁵⁵They ran through that whole area to bring to him those who were sick. They carried them on mats to where they heard he was.

⁵⁶He went into the villages, the towns and the countryside. Everywhere he went, the people brought the sick to the market places. Those who were sick begged him to let them touch just the edge of his clothes. And all who touched him were healed.

What Makes People “Unclean”?

7The Pharisees gathered around Jesus. So did some of the teachers of the law. All of them had come from Jerusalem. ²They saw some of his disciples eating food with “unclean” hands. That means they were not washed.

³The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands to make them pure. That’s what the elders teach. ⁴When they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they wash. And they follow many other teachings. For example, they wash cups, pitchers, and kettles in a special way.

⁵So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law questioned Jesus. “Why don’t your disciples live by what the elders teach?” they asked. “Why do they eat their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”

⁶He replied, “Isaiah was right. He prophesied about you people who pretend to be good. He said,

“ ‘These people honor me by what they say.

But their hearts are far away from me.

⁷Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me.

They teach nothing but human rules.’

⁸You have let go of God’s commands. And you are holding on to the teachings that men have made up.”

⁹Jesus then said to them, “You have a fine way of setting aside God’s commands! You do this so you can follow your own teachings. ¹⁰Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’ He also said, ‘If anyone calls down a curse on his father or mother, he will be put to death.’ ¹¹But you allow people to say to their parents, ‘Any help you might have received from us is Corban.’ (Corban means ‘a gift set apart for God.’) ¹²So you no longer let them do anything for their parents. ¹³You make the word of God useless by putting your own teachings in its place. And you do many things like that.”

¹⁴Again Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, “Listen to me, everyone. Understand this. ^15/16Nothing outside of you can make you ‘unclean’ by going into you. It is what comes out of you that makes you ‘unclean.’ ”

¹⁷Then he left the crowd and entered the house. His disciples asked him about this teaching.

¹⁸“Don’t you understand?” Jesus asked. “Don’t you see? Nothing that enters people from the outside can make them ‘unclean.’ ¹⁹It doesn’t go into the heart. It goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body.” In saying this, Jesus was calling all foods “clean.”

²⁰He went on to say, “What comes out of people makes them ‘unclean.’ ²¹Evil thoughts come from the inside, from people’s hearts. So do sexual sins, stealing and murder. Adultery, ²²greed, hate and cheating come from people’s hearts too. So do desires that are not pure, and wanting what belongs to others. And so do telling lies about others and being proud and being foolish. ²³All those evil things come from inside a person. They make him ‘unclean.’ ”

The Faith of a Greek Woman

²⁴Jesus went from there to a place near Tyre. He entered a house. He did not want anyone to know where he was. But he could not keep it a secret.

²⁵Soon a woman heard about him. An evil spirit controlled her little daughter. The woman came to Jesus and fell at his feet. ²⁶She was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to their dogs.”

²⁸“Yes, Lord,” she replied. “But even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹Then he told her, “That was a good reply. You may go. The demon has left your daughter.”

³⁰So she went home and found her child lying on the bed. And the demon was gone.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Hear or Speak

³¹Then Jesus left the area of Tyre and went through Sidon. He went down to the Sea of Galilee and into the area known as the Ten Cities.

³²There some people brought a man to him. The man was deaf and could hardly speak. They begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

³³Jesus took the man to one side, away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴Jesus looked up to heaven. With a deep sigh, he said to the man, “Ephphatha!” That means “Be opened!” ³⁵The man’s ears were opened. His tongue was freed up, and he began to speak clearly.

³⁶Jesus ordered the people not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.

³⁷People were really amazed. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes deaf people able to hear. And he makes those who can’t speak able to talk.”

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

8During those days another large crowd gathered. They had nothing to eat. So Jesus called for his disciples to come to him. He said, ²“I feel deep concern for these people. They have already been with me three days. They don’t have anything to eat. ³If I send them away hungry, they will become too weak on their way home. Some of them have come from far away.”

⁴His disciples answered him. “There is nothing here,” they said. “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

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

“Seven,” they replied.

⁶He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. He took the seven loaves and gave thanks to God. Then he broke them and gave them to his disciples. They set the loaves down in front of the people. ⁷The disciples also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for them too. He told the disciples to pass them around. ⁸The people ate and were satisfied.

After that, the disciples picked up seven baskets of leftover pieces. ⁹About 4,000 men were there. Jesus sent them away. ¹⁰Then he got into a boat with his disciples. He went to the area of Dalmanutha.

¹¹The Pharisees came and began to ask Jesus questions. They wanted to put him to the test. So they asked him for a miraculous sign from heaven. ¹²He sighed deeply. He said, “Why do you people ask for a sign? What I’m about to tell you is true. No sign will be given to you.”

¹³Then he left them. He got back into the boat and crossed to the other side of the lake.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

¹⁴The disciples had forgotten to bring bread. They had only one loaf with them in the boat.

¹⁵“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees. And watch out for the yeast of Herod.”

¹⁶They talked about this with each other. They said, “He must be saying this because we don’t have any bread.”

¹⁷Jesus knew what they were saying. So he asked them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Why can’t you see or understand? Are you stubborn? ¹⁸Do you have eyes and still don’t see? Do you have ears and still don’t hear? And don’t you remember? ¹⁹Earlier I broke five loaves for the 5,000. How many baskets of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

²⁰“Later I broke seven loaves for the 4,000. How many baskets of pieces did you pick up?”

“Seven,” they answered.

²¹He said to them, “Can’t you understand yet?”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man

²²Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man. They begged Jesus to touch him.

²³He took the blind man by the hand. Then he led him outside the village. He spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him.

“Do you see anything?” Jesus asked.

²⁴The man looked up. He said, “I see people. They look like trees walking around.”

²⁵Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened so that he could see again. He saw everything clearly.

²⁶Jesus sent him home. He told him, “Don’t go into the village.”

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