| 章 |
| 7:1 |
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and
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| 7:2 |
saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed.
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| 7:3 |
(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.
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| 7:4 |
When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
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| 7:5 |
So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with `unclean' hands?"
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| 7:6 |
He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: " `These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
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| 7:7 |
They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.
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| 7:8 |
'You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
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| 7:9 |
And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
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| 7:10 |
For Moses said, `Honor your father and your mother,' and, `Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.
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| 7:11 |
'But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: `Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban '(that is, a gift devoted to God),
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| 7:12 |
then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.
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| 7:13 |
Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."
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| 7:14 |
Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.
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| 7:15 |
Nothing outside a man can make him `unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him `unclean.' "
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| 7:16 |
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| 7:17 |
After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.
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| 7:18 |
"Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him `unclean'?
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| 7:19 |
For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
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| 7:20 |
He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him `unclean.
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| 7:21 |
'For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
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| 7:22 |
greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
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| 7:23 |
All these evils come from inside and make a man `unclean.' "
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| 7:24 |
Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.
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| 7:25 |
In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.
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| 7:26 |
The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
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| 7:27 |
"First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
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| 7:28 |
"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
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| 7:29 |
Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter."
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| 7:30 |
She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
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| 7:31 |
Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.
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| 7:32 |
There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.
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| 7:33 |
After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue.
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| 7:34 |
He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!" ).
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| 7:35 |
At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
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| 7:36 |
Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.
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| 7:37 |
People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
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