Mark 7
1 Then the Pharisees, with certain Scribes who had come from Jerusalem, came to Him in a body.
[One day some] Pharisees and some men who teach the [Jewish] laws gathered around Jesus. They had come from Jerusalem [to investigate him].
2 They had noticed that some of His disciples were eating their food with 'unclean' (that is to say, unwashed) hands.
The Pharisees and all of the [other] Jews [strictly] observe the traditions that their ancestors [taught. For example, they refuse to] eat until they first wash their hands [with a special ritual], especially after they [return] from [buying things in] the marketplace. [They think that God will be angry with them if they do not do that, because some person or thing unacceptable to God might have touched] ([them/the things they bought]). There are many other such [traditions] that they accept and try to obey. Specifically, they wash [in a special way] their cups, pots, kettles, containers, and beds [in order that using these things will not make God reject them].
3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews--being, as they are, zealous for the traditions of the Elders--never eat without first carefully washing their hands,
4 and when they come from market they will not eat without bathing first; and they have a good many other customs which they have received traditionally and cling to, such as the rinsing of cups and pots and of bronze utensils, and the washing of beds.)
5 So the Pharisees and Scribes put the question to Him: "Why do your disciples transgress the traditions of the Elders, and eat their food with unclean hands?"
That day, those Pharisees and men who taught the [Jewish] laws saw that some of his disciples were eating food with hands that they had not washed [using the special ritual]. So they questioned Jesus, saying, “[Your] disciples disobey the traditions of our ancestors! (You should not [let them] eat food if they have not washed their hands [using our special ritual]!/Why do you [let them] eat food if they have not washed their hands [using our special ritual]?) [RHQ]”
6 "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites," He replied; "as it is written, "'This People honour Me with their lips, while their hearts are far away from Me:
Jesus said to them, “Isaiah [rebuked your ancestors], and his words describe very well you people who only pretend to be good! He wrote these words [that God said]: These people speak [as if they] honor me, but they [SYN] really do not think about honoring me at all.
7 But idle is their devotion while they lay down precepts which are mere human rules.'
It is useless for them to worship me, because they teach only what people have commanded [as if I myself had commanded them].
8 "You neglect God's Commandment: you hold fast to men's traditions."
You, [like your ancestors], refuse [to do] what God has commanded. Instead, you follow only the traditions that (others/your ancestors) have [taught].”
9 "Praiseworthy indeed!" He added, "to set at nought God's Commandment in order to observe your own traditions!
Jesus also said to them, “[You think] [IRO] that you are clever in refusing to do what God commanded just so that you can obey your own traditions!
10 For Moses said, 'Honour thy father and thy mother' and again, 'He who curses father or mother, let him die the death.'
[For example, our ancestor] Moses [wrote God’s] command, ‘Honor your fathers and your mothers’. He also wrote, ‘[The authorities must] execute a person who speaks evil about his father or mother.’
11 But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, It is a Korban (that is, a thing devoted to God), whatever it is, which otherwise you would have received from me--'
But you [teach people that it is all right that people no longer must help their parents. You teach people that it is all right if people] give their things to God [instead of giving them to their parents]. You allow them to say to their parents, ‘What I was going to give to you [to provide for you, I have now promised to] give to God. So I [cannot any longer help you]!’ As a result, you are [actually telling people] that they no longer have to help their parents!
12 And so you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or mother,
13 thus nullifying God's precept by your tradition which you have handed down. And many things of that kind you do."
And, by doing that, you disregard what God commanded! You teach your own traditions to others [and tell them strongly that they should obey them] And you do many other things like that.”
14 Then Jesus called the people to Him again. "Listen to me, all of you," He said, "and understand.
Then Jesus again summoned the crowd [to come closer. Then] he said to them [figuratively], “All of you people listen to me! [Try to] understand [DOU] [what I am about to tell you].
15 There is nothing outside a man which entering him can make him unclean; but it is the things which come out of a man that make him unclean."
Nothing that people eat causes [God to] consider them to be unacceptable. On the contrary, it is that which comes from people’s (inner beings/hearts) that causes God to reject them.”
17 After He had left the crowd and gone indoors, His disciples began to ask Him about this figure of speech.
After Jesus had left the crowd and then entered a house with the disciples, they asked him about the parable [that he had just spoken].
18 "Have you also so little understanding?" He replied; "do you not understand that anything whatever that enters a man from outside cannot make him unclean,
He replied, “([I am disappointed that] you also do not understand [what it means]!/Why can you not understand [what it means]?) [RHQ] (You ought to understand that nothing that [enters us from] outside can cause [God to] consider us unacceptable to him./Can you not understand that nothing that [enters us from] outside of us can cause [God to] consider us unacceptable to him?) [RHQ]
19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and passes away ejected from him?" By these words Jesus pronounced all kinds of food clean.
Instead of entering [and ruining] our minds/souls, it goes into our stomachs, and afterwards the refuse passes out [of our bodies].” By saying this, Jesus was declaring that people [can eat] any food without causing [God] to reject them.
20 "What comes out of a man," He added, "that it is which makes him unclean.
He also said, “It is the [thoughts and actions] that come from within people that cause [God] to consider them unacceptable to him.
21 For from within, out of men's hearts, their evil purposes proceed--fornication, theft, murder, adultery,
Specifically, it is people’s innermost being [that causes them to] think things that are evil; they act immorally, they steal [things], they commit murder.
22 covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, reviling, pride, reckless folly:
They [commit] adultery, they are greedy, they [act] maliciously, they deceive [people]. They [act] indecently, they envy [people], they speak evil about others, they are proud, and they [act] foolishly.
23 all these wicked things come out from within and make a man unclean."
People think [these thoughts] and then they do these evil actions, and that is what causes [God to] consider them unacceptable to him.”
24 Then He rose and left that place and went into the neighbourhood of Tyre and Sidon. Here He entered a house and wished no one to know it, but He could not escape observation.
After Jesus [and his disciples] left [Galilee district], they went to the region around Tyre. While he stayed at a certain house, he desired that no one know [it], but people soon found out [that he was there].
25 Forthwith a woman whose little daughter was possessed by a foul spirit heard of Him, and came and flung herself at His feet.
A certain woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit [within her], heard about Jesus. At once she came to him and prostrated herself at his feet.
26 She was a Gentile woman, a Syro-phoenician by nation: and again and again she begged Him to expel the demon from her daughter.
This woman [was not a Jew. Her ancestors came] from Greece [country], but she was born in [the region around] Phoenicia [town] in Syria district. She pleaded with Jesus that he expel the evil spirit from her daughter.
27 "Let the children first eat all they want," He said; "it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
But he [wanted to see how strongly she believed in him. So, suggesting that he should help the Jews first and not the non-Jews whom some Jews called dogs] [MET], [he] spoke to her saying, “First let the children eat all they want, because it is not good for someone to take the food [the mother has prepared] for the children and then throw it to the [little] dogs.”
28 "True, Sir," she replied, "and yet the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps."
But [to show that she believed that non-Jews could also receive help from God] [MET], she replied to him, “Sir, [what you say is] correct, but even the [little] dogs, which lie under the table, eat the crumbs that the children [drop].”
29 "For those words of yours, go home," He replied; "the demon has gone out of your daughter."
[Jesus] said to her, “Because of what you have said, [you have shown me that you believe in what I can do for you]. So I will help you. Now you may go [home, because I have caused] the evil spirit to leave your daughter.”
30 So she went home, and found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
The woman returned to her house and saw that her child was lying [quietly] on the bed and that the evil spirit had left.
31 Returning from the neighbourhood of Tyre, He came by way of Sidon to the Lake of Galilee, passing through the district of the Ten Towns.
Jesus [and his disciples] left the region around Tyre [city] and went [north] through Sidon [city], then [toward the east] through the district of the Ten Towns, and then [south] to [the towns near] Lake Galilee.
32 Here they brought to Him a deaf man that stammered, on whom they begged Him to lay His hands.
[There], people brought to him a man who was deaf and who could hardly talk. They begged [Jesus] to lay his hands on him [in order to heal him].
33 So Jesus taking him aside, apart from the crowd, put His fingers into his ears, and spat, and moistened his tongue;
[So Jesus] took him away from the crowd [in order that the two of them could be] alone. Then he put [one of] his fingers into [each of] the man’s ears. After he spat [on his fingers], he touched the man’s tongue [with his fingers].
34 and looking up to Heaven He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Open!")
Then he looked up toward heaven, he sighed [because he was concerned for the man], and then [in his own language] he said to the man’s [ears], “Ephphatha”, which means, “Be opened {Open up}!”.
35 And the man's ears were opened, and his tongue became untied, and he began to speak perfectly.
At once the man could hear plainly [MTY]. He also began to speak clearly because [what was causing him to be unable to speak] was healed {Jesus healed [what was causing him to be unable to speak]}.
36 Then Jesus charged them to tell no one; but the more He charged them, all the more did they spread the news far and wide.
Jesus told ([the people/his friends]) not to tell anyone [what he had done]. But, although he ordered them [and others] repeatedly [not to tell anyone about it], they kept talking about it very much.
37 The amazement was extreme. "He succeeds in everything he attempts," they exclaimed; "he even makes deaf men hear and dumb men speak!"
[People who heard about it] were utterly amazed and were saying [enthusiastically], “Everything he has done is wonderful! [Besides doing other amazing things], he enables deaf people to hear! And he enables those who cannot speak to speak!”
