Mar 7 | ESV | STEP | Now when the Pharisees gathered to him , with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem ,

1 ^aNow when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes ^bwho had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were ^cdefiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, ^{▼▼Greek unless they wash the hands with a fist, probably indicating a kind of ceremonial washing} holding to ^ethe tradition of ^fthe elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. ^{▼▼Greek unless they baptize; some manuscripts unless they purify themselves} And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as ^hthe washing of ⁱcups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) ^{▼▼Some manuscripts omit and dining couches} 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to ^kthe tradition of ^lthe elders, ^mbut eat with ⁿdefiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you ^ohypocrites, as it is written,

^p“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as ^qdoctrines the commandments of men.’

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

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of ^rrejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ^s‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^t‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But 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) ^{▼▼Or an offering}— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus ^vmaking void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, ^w“Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 ^xThere 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.” ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add verse 16: If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear} 17 And when he had entered ^zthe house and left the people, ^aahis disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then ^abare you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart ^acbut his stomach, and is expelled?” ^{▼▼Greek goes out into the latrine} ( ^aeThus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, ^af“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, ^agmurder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, ^ahsensuality, ^aienvy, ^ajslander, ^akpride, ^alfoolishness. 23 ^amAll these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

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

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

31 ^avThen he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to ^awthe Sea of Galilee, in the region of the ^axDecapolis. 32 And they brought to him ^aya man who was deaf and ^azhad a speech impediment, and they begged him to ^balay his hand on him. 33 And ^bbtaking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and ^bcafter spitting touched his tongue. 34 And ^bdlooking up to heaven, ^behe sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 ^bfAnd his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And ^bgJesus ^{▼▼Greek he} charged them to tell no one. But ^bithe more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were ^bjastonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”