Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

The Pharisees and certain of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. When some of his disciples ate bread with unwashed hands, they criticized them.

For the Pharisees and all the Jews adhered to a tradition that required frequent handwashing before eating. They believed it was essential to wash their hands after coming from the market or engaging in other activities, as well as washing cups, pots, bronze vessels, and tables. The Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus why his disciples didn't follow this tradition.

Jesus responded by quoting Isaiah: "Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.'" He accused them of worshiping God in vain by teaching human traditions as if they were divine commands. Jesus said that they prioritized keeping human traditions over following God's commandments.

He pointed out that Moses had commanded honor for one's parents, and anyone who cursed their father or mother was to be put to death. However, the Pharisees taught that if someone declared something to be a gift (corban), it exempted them from caring for their parents. This made God's word of no effect through their traditions.

Jesus called out to all the people and said, "Listen carefully to me and understand." He explained that nothing from outside a person can defile them; it is the things that come out of a person that defile them. If anyone had ears to hear, they should listen carefully.

After entering a house from the crowd, Jesus' disciples asked him about his previous statement. They seemed puzzled by his words and didn't grasp that anything entering from outside couldn't defile someone. Jesus explained that food enters the stomach and is eliminated, purging all foods.

He then said, "What comes out of a person defiles that person." From within people, evil thoughts, adulteries, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness arise. All these evil things come from within and defile the person.

Jesus left that place and entered the regions of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house without anyone knowing it, but he couldn't remain hidden. A certain woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Jesus and came to him. She was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation, and begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.

Jesus said, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and give it to their dogs." The woman replied, "Yes, Lord," yet pointed out that even the dogs under the table eat crumbs that fall from the children's plates. Jesus said to her, "For this reason, go; your daughter is no longer possessed by the devil."

When she arrived home, she found that the demon had left and her daughter was lying on the bed. Departing from the regions around Tyre and Sidon, Jesus came to the Sea of Galilee through the middle of the Decapolis region.

They brought to him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they begged him to place his hand on him. Jesus took the man aside from the crowd, put his fingers into the man's ears, spat, and touched his tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, "Ephphatha," which means, "Be opened."

At once the man's ears were opened, and the blockage of his tongue was loosened. Jesus strictly ordered them not to tell anyone about it, but they publicly proclaimed it all the more after he forbade them from speaking about it. They were utterly amazed, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes those who are deaf hear and those who cannot speak proclaim what they have heard."